Cobalt Blue
by Mintacia
Summary: Nico di Angelo isn't sure if he's imagining Will Solace's sudden personality changes. Most of the time, Will is his normal, carefree (and annoying) self. However, every so often, Will is different. During those times, there's a strange hunger in his gaze when he looks at Nico. For Nico, it is both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. / Solangelo /
1. Embers

_Chapter 1:_ **Embers**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

The first time that I got burned, I dropped my hammer and cussed. Leo started snickering as I yanked off a glove and used it to smack at the orange embers on my skin.

"You'll get used to it!" Leo commented cheerfully before going back to his work. Yea, easy for him to say; he was immune to fire and all forms of heat. I rolled my eyes at him before turning my gaze to glare at the stinging burns on my arm. Annoyingly, I was going to have to swing by the infirmary and get something to put on them.

I started to wonder if spending my extra time in the Hephaestus cabin was actually a good decision. However, there wasn't much else for me to do.

When summer ended, most of the other demigods around camp had left. Percy and Annabeth had packed up and headed to New Rome College, Will Solace had headed back to California for his junior year of High School, and even Grover had left for a yearlong spiritual hike around the world. When September had hit, I'd found myself rather alone.

Jason and Piper were still around, but they were so couple-y that they kind of grossed me out. I swear, every time I looked away, they tried to sneak in kisses. Ugh.

Leo and Calypso were living at the camp this year too, but I didn't consider them an option at first for the same reason that I didn't hang out too often with Jason and Piper. Then one day, I had noticed that Calypso spent most of her mornings and afternoons helping what few Hecate and Apollo kids remained with their magic. I started gravitating towards Leo during the day time, bugging him in his forge. He wasn't my first choice for who to spend my time with, but it wasn't too bad. Leo was happy to chit chat with me, even if our conversations boiled down to me chastising him for making idiotic jokes.

One day, after a few weeks of me watching him work, Leo handed me a hammer and told me to make myself useful. I had never forged anything before, but I had nothing to lose by trying. That's how I ended up hammering together fence rails. It was hard work, but surprisingly refreshing. It felt good to create something.

The children of Hades don't often create things. Usually, we just resurrect them.

So, anyways, since I'd burned myself, off I went to the infirmary. The entire place was being manned by a skittish, twelve year-old girl. She seemed terrified of me immediately. She led me to the supply closet in the back of the infirmary. "Burn ointment should be in there somewhere." The girl whimpered, before turning and darting away.

I couldn't blame her for being frightened. Not only was I the son of death, but over the last few years, I'd put on some muscle and a few inches. I was no longer the sickly, small, Hawaiian shirt-clad boy that had nearly killed himself shadow-traveling a giant statue across the world.

Heck, most demigods were at least a little afraid of me. There were only a few (aggravating) souls that were oblivious to what everyone else was affected by. Like, Will Solace. Who, by the way, I was still (aggravatingly) shorter than. During the previous summer, he had enjoyed teasing me about that.

When I located the big tube of burn ointment, tucked with other similar bottles, I decided to simply take it. That way, I figured, I wouldn't have to bother the Apollo healers every time I burned myself.

I left the infirmary, satisfied.

Winter passed. Then, spring. I continued to help in the forge with Leo, which meant occasionally burning myself. I got better at not getting embers on me, but it still happened now and then. The other Hephaestus kids, while not impervious to fire like Leo, never got bothered by the embers. I supposed that it must have been a Hephaestus-skill sort of deal.

The month of May arrived quickly. Campers began to trickle in. Percy and Annabeth even showed back up to camp. I listened to Annabeth babble about her Architecture classes for about an hour before I had to excuse myself. Any more might have caused my brain to explode. Regardless, it was nice to have them back.

That particular Wednesday started out as a normal Wednesday. I was hammering away at railing, getting out the kinks. Leo was helping some newly arrived Hephaestus camper set up her work station. I was half listening to him explain to her how some of the updates he'd made to the forges worked when my hammer hit a soft spot in the metal and hot embers spewed out.

I no longer reacted when I burned myself. No, rather, I calmly grabbed a nearby wet cloth and smacked the embers off my skin. It was no big deal; I was always prepared. I reached over to where I kept my bottle of burn ointment. I squeezed it and it let out a hoarse hiss.

It was empty.

Sighing with frustration, I pushed myself up. _Looks like it's time to raid the infirmary again_ , I thought.

"I'll be back." I told Leo, before turning and heading out of the cabin.

As I walked to the Big House, I passed several campers dragging suite cases across the grass. The American schools must have gotten out, I realized. _I wonder if he's back_... I gave my head a shake. No, I didn't need to be wondering about him. Everyone would show back up eventually. There was no reason getting myself pointlessly excited for any one particular person.

The infirmary was abuzz with life when I reached it. A few feet in the door, the Apollo kids had created a huge circle and were chatting together happily. For most of them, this was the first time they'd seen each other in eight months. Their excitement was almost infectious.

A few of them paused to stare at me curiously as I entered. I let my eyes scan the group for a mop of blond hair, but didn't see him. Deciding not to bother the group, I passed right by them and headed into the supply closet at the back of the infirmary.

It took a minute of digging through the medical supplies to find the burn ointment. During the summer, Calypso and her trainees had done an impressive job adding to the medical stock of Camp Half-Blood. There were cures for every possible injury or disease crowded on the wire shelves of the medical supply closet. From the common cold to manticore poison, Camp Half-Blood was prepared to handle even the most random infliction. I would have to tell Calypso _good job_ next time I saw her.

Burn ointment in hand, I turned around and found Will Solace standing in the doorway of the supply closet, which nearly gave me a heart attack.

"What do you think you're doing, di Angelo?" Will asked, grinning.

He hadn't changed that much. With his khaki shorts, a t-shirt (with an American pop culture reference that I didn't understand), and flip-flops, Will looked almost the same as he had eight months ago. His hair even looked properly messy, like he'd ran his hands through it several times. Which he probably had, actually. Will tended to do that a lot.

It was stupid, but I couldn't deny that I was happy to see him. Eight months was a long time. "You're back." Was what I managed to say. That didn't answer his question, though. _Ugh,_ what was wrong with me? There was no reason to feel so... flustered.

Will smiled at me. His smile was bright, just like I remembered. "Nice to see you too, sunshine." He chuckled pleasantly, "Why are you stealing my supplies?"

Oh. I should have figured he wouldn't agree with me taking supplies. Scowling, I decided not to address that ridiculous nickname and instead defended myself. "They are the camp's supplies." I retorted. He hadn't been back for two seconds, and he was already trying to boss me around.

I'd hadn't realized how much I missed his bossiness.

"My infirmary, my supplies." The healer stated, still smiling, before stalking over to me and grabbing the tube out of my hands. His fingers brushed mine for a split second and I felt the same electricity I had felt when I'd run into him out by Thalia's tree in the midst of the war, two years ago.

I covered up my embarrassment by glaring at him.

Turning the bottle over in his hands, Will stared at the label. "Why do you need burn cream?" He asked curiously.

"... no reason." If I told him, I knew he'd launch into full doctor mode. He'd probably even start giving me a lecture on proper care of my epidermis layer (which is vocabulary I only knew because of previous lectures on proper healthcare).

The annoying thing about children of Apollo is that you didn't need to tell them what was wrong. No, they were keen enough to find out what it was by themselves. I tensed as Will's eyes swept up and down my figure. Without asking first, Will reached forward and grabbed my arm.

Will never seemed to understand the concept of personal space. Annoyed, I tried to yank my arm back, but he held firm. Staring down at the burns along right arm, he asked incredulously, "How the Hades did you do this?"

Sucking in a breath, I calmed myself. Will's behavior shouldn't surprise me. I'd known him long enough at this point. "... embers from the forge." I admitted softly.

"Forge? As in, the Hephaestus' forge?"

"Yes." Eight months of frustration bleed into my next words. "While you've been wasting your time at your American school, I've been learning metalwork." _Because I've been bored out of my mind._ I didn't add that last bit.

"Funny, I thought you were a child of Hades?" His words were playful, even though I was still glaring at him. I never quite understood how Will could always be so _happy_ around me. It was weird, but... I liked it. I liked it more than I should have.

"And what hobby would be appropriate for a child of Hades, Solace?" I snapped back. It wasn't like there was a particular hobby the children of Hades were good at, other than summoning skeletons from the ground. Last I checked, there wasn't a Skeleton-Raising club in Camp Half-Blood for me to join.

He was still holding my arm. Blushing, I yanked and got it back this time.

Will blinked, then laughed. "Okay, fine, whatever floats your boat." Then he leaned towards me and I found myself staring into his sky blue eyes. "But I'll be caring for your burns, di Angelo. You might now be a welder, but you're not a doctor."

"Neither are you, technically." I muttered under my breath, but I didn't resist when he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the closet.

That's how I found myself sitting on a hospital bed, waiting for Will to find some bandages. I tried telling him that he didn't need to wrap my arms up, that I never wrapped my arms up, but he cut me off.

"Yea, I can tell. You've got marks all up your arm." As he spoke, Will was digging through some drawers. I wasn't really sure what he was grabbing. "Do me a favor: no more self-medicating."

I glanced down at my arms. Yea, I had small pot marks and scars from my previous burns, but what did it matter? Demigods had scars. It was a fact of life.

Will didn't seem ready to accept that. The wheels of his stool squeaked as he pushed it over to the bed. Several supplies tumbled out of his hands and onto the bed's attached tray. I noticed that none of the supplies were the burn ointment.

Apprehension hit me. "Will, what are you doing?"

At first, he didn't reply. I watch him fiddle with the supplies, squirting golden liquid onto a square piece of gauze. Not about to be ignored, I gave his leg a light kick. "I'm healing your scars." He finally answered.

My face contorted with annoyance. I didn't need him to heal my scars. Personally, I didn't give a flying Pegasus about my scars.

"I know you're about to argue with me," Will said suddenly, pausing in his work to glare stubbornly at me, "but this isn't up for debate. When I see something I can fix, I fix it." His stubbornness was so cute that my argument died in my throat. Of course, I still growled with frustration and rolled my eyes.

"Fine." I huffed.

His face changed and his trademark smile returned. "Good!"

I tried not to flinch too much when his hand took my arm again. At the end of last summer, I'd gotten used to how touchy he was, but eight months apart had left me feeling all nervous again every time his skin brushed mine.

The salve that he was using didn't sting too badly. At the very least, it was nothing compare to hot embers boring holes in my skin. Will wrapped each arm up with bandages as he finished with them. I looked like an idiot, with both of my arms wrapped from wrist to elbow, but it was too late to complain about that.

"You'll need to come in once a day for the next week so I can change out your bandages." Will instructed happily.

After offering me a lollipop for being _such a good boy_ , Will released me from the infirmary. The comment should have made me angry, but instead I found myself fighting a smile.

The next day while I was working in the forge, Leo asked me why I was in such a good mood. When he kept pestering me for a reason (because apparently me smiling was as abnormal as pigs flying), I ended up threatening him with my hammer.

At lunch, I found myself eating with Annabeth and Piper. Percy and Jason were busy teaching classes, while both Annabeth and Piper were teaching classes that started right when the boy's classes ended. While they explained this to me, I found myself wondering if I should be teaching a class to the younger campers too, but then I remembered that most of them were afraid of me.

I slurped up chicken noodle soup and listened to the girls share stories. Annabeth talked about college while Piper talked about her trips to New Rome with Jason. At one point, they both paused and looked at me.

"What about you, Nico?" Piper asked. "What was the high point of your year?"

Running into Will yesterday at the infirmary flashed through my mind. No, that was stupid. It'd been nice to see him, but I wouldn't go so far as to declare that a high point. I searched my mind for something else to say.

"Um. It was very... rewarding to get the new fence erected around the strawberry fields." That was the best I could come up with. Again, the last eight months had been very uneventful.

Annabeth stared at me with confusion. It was Piper who clarified, "Oh yea, you helped Leo in the forge with that fence, right?"

"You've been helping in the forge?" Annabeth parroted, her eyes narrowing with surprise.

I shrugged. "Yea. I didn't have much else to do." Maybe that would change, with everyone coming back. I dropped my attention back to my chicken noodle soup. Steam was still rolling off it.

"But... you're a child of Hades." Annabeth pointed out slowly. She reminded me of Will yesterday.

Flustered, I snapped at her. "So? What else is there for a child of Hades to do?" Was every single person going to question me about my new hobby?

Annabeth held both her hands up in surrender. "Okay, never mind. Sorry Nico."

After a second, I started to feel bad. There wasn't any reason for me to snap at her like that. I sucked in a deep breath and then gradually exhaled. During the winter, Clovis had taught me (during one of our many dream run-ins) regulating your breathing was a great way to relax in tough situations. The technique worked pretty well for me.

Calmer, I apologized to Annabeth, "No, sorry, I didn't meant to snap at you." I sighed. "I missed having everyone around. This place is a ghost town when every leaves. Well, not a literal ghost town. Those are different." I'd been through a few ghost towns, and they were anything but quiet.

"It's okay." Annabeth smiled. Tentatively, I returned her smile to the best of my ability.

"Oh! Guys, I forgot to tell you about how Jason and I accidentally blew up a coffee shop!" Piper said suddenly, drawing the attention off me. Relieved, I listened to her story, _hmph_ -ing and _haw_ -ing at the right times.

When lunch ended, I decided that it'd be a good time to head to the infirmary and get my bandage change over with.

I recognized the girl standing by the door, but her name didn't come to me right away. She smiled at me and said, "Oh, hello Nico. Will said you'd be coming by."

Kayla. Her name is Kayla. During the battle of Manhattan, she'd fought alongside the rest of her siblings. I nod at her. "Yea." I'm not sure whether I need to go into detail about the burns, the scars, and Will being his usual demanding self. Luckily, she doesn't ask.

"I'll be right back." She said as she turned and headed deeper into the infirmary.

My gaze wandered. The wall to my left had a bunch of nails jammed in it, with name plaques hanging on them. Some of them were blank, while others bore names. I spotted _Will Solace_ near the top. Kayla also had a plaque, a few spots below Will's. Last year, Will had explained to me that that was how they kept track of who was in and who wasn't. Since I'd helped out so much in the infirmary last year, he had kept joking that he was going to get me a plaque made.

"Ah, there's my favorite patient!" Will shouts from the other side of the infirmary.

Breath, I tell myself. If I focus on my breathing, I'm pretty sure I can keep my cheeks from coloring. I like being called Will's favorite patient way too much. No, I need to stay indifferent to him. I don't want an inappropriate crush ruining our friendship.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me off to the same curtained off hospital bed as the day before. Even though it was completely unnecessary, he insisted on getting my vitals before he started on my bandages. The blasted healer started explaining the importance of having a record on file, but I wasn't really listening. His hands on my arm and wrist, as he checks blood pressure and then heart rate, distracted me.

"Your heart is speeding up." Will commented with interest as his hands are on my wrist.

Panicking, I snapped at him, "Probably because of how much you frustrate me."

Something in the way that he grinned at me made me think that he doesn't believe me.

The bandages came off and a noxious smell filled the room. Will started laughing and joked about how healing doesn't always smell nice. He layered more of the salve onto each arm, before starting to wrap them back up. Before Kayla poked her head in, he had finished my right arm and was wrapping up the left.

"Will, an Ares camper got a spear jammed in his thigh." She informed him grimly.

Will groaned, "Another one? That's the second Ares kid today!" Glancing at me, Will smiled sadly. "I have to go. I'll see if I can send one of the younger kids to finish wrapping you up?"

I nodded, even though I was already considering finishing it myself. Will might have told me no self-medicating, but I hardly considered finishing wrapping a bandage around my arm self-medicating.

Will ducked out of the room. On the off chance that he'd end up U-turning and coming right back, I waited, counting backwards from one hundred. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a lecture about how I should have let one of the healers finish up the bandaging.

It's a good thing I waited, because Will ducked back through the curtains about half a minute later.

"Don't you need to help with that Ares kid?" I asked as Will walked over to me. He seemed kind of different, but maybe I was just imagining it.

"Nah, they ended up not needing me." Will said with a shrug as he stopped only a few inches from me. _Too close,_ I thought nervously. Dropping to gaze to the ground, I offered him my partially bandaged left arm. Thinking was hard when Will was that close.

Instead of taking my arms, his hands found their way to my face.

 _What the Tartarus!?_

He looked very amused as he tipped my head up towards his. Every inch of me heated up and I felt angry at him for making me feel like that. I definitely didn't invite him to touch me like that. It wasn't fair for Will to make me blush like this, especially when he'd only been back two days.

Batting his hands away, I growled hotly, "Stop being weird."

His laughter was deep, beautiful. "Sorry. I couldn't resist." An involuntary shudder ran through me. He couldn't resist? What on earth was he talking about? No, I was too afraid to ask. I stared down at his flip-flops as he finished bandaging my arm.

The whole time, Will stared at me in the same way that Annabeth stared at great feats of architecture. I wasn't sure what to feel, other than uncomfortable. Will really was being weird. As soon as he was done, I jumped off the gurney, intent on storming out of the infirmary as quickly as possible.

He caught my hand before I could get through the curtain. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed." He told me, which only embarrassed me more. Internally, I was freaking out. Why was Will, after eight months apart, being so... flirty? I mean, he'd always been kind of flirty, but never like this. Never so straight-forward.

Maybe I was going crazy. That was the easiest explanation. Stealing my hand back, I ducked out of the curtains and pretty much ran out of the infirmary. Maybe I was misunderstanding Will and his damned flirtatious words.

Or maybe this was his way of showing that he liked me too?

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

 **A/N:** So, this is actually a re-upload! I had to delete it due to some of the themes contrasting with my professional job.

I'll be tweaking, re-posting, and then eventually continuing the story with a T-rating. :)


	2. Flickers

_Chapter 2:_ **Flickers**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

The dining pavilion was filled with life. In the last two days, a huge chunk of the Camp Half-Blood demigods had arrived. The once barren pavilion now hummed with chatter. Some of the tables were already dangerously crowded.

Despite the explosion in population, my table was empty as always.

No surprise there. As a child of Hades, I was used to being alone. I accepted it. While the other gods enjoyed the sun and the earth, my father was stuck to the caverns below the earth. In other words, it was only natural for me to be an outcast.

After getting a plate of sweet-smelling BBQ and various vegetables, I headed over to my table. My mind was still swirling with what had happened earlier that day. Will had acted so very strange... but maybe I was being overly dramatic? A few comments and a few small touches didn't meant much. Maybe he had been playing a game? There was a whole slew of American social jokes that I didn't understand. For example, one time Leo patted me on the head and declared, "Goose!" It had seemed nonsensical at the time until someone explained to me that it was a game.

I sat down at my table, let out a frustrated sigh, and started digging into my food.

And then everyone else sat down too. They swarmed around the table so quickly that I didn't notice them until they all started to sit down. Mouth agape, I looked up from my food and found many familiar faces at my table.

Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Lou Ellen, Cecil, Kayla, Jason, and Will. The latter two plopped themselves down on either side of me. Gulping, I tried to ignore how nervous I felt having Will sit so close to me. _We're just friends_ , I told myself like it was some sort of mantra.

Honestly, I'd never seen the Hades table so full. Chiron preferred for every camper to sit with the rest of their cabin, but he didn't speak up as the hoard of demigods joined me.

Jason reached out and ruffled my hair. Growling, I smacked his hand away. "How was the forge today, Nico?" He asked cheerfully.

Really? Were we going to ignore the elephant in the room? Everyone was sitting at the table of the god of Death and all things underworld. I didn't understand why everyone would want to sit here, with me. They didn't sit with me last summer at dinner. For some reason, this didn't seem to be bugging the other demigods at the table; they were chitchatting like everything was normal.

Fine. If they weren't going to address their strange actions, then I wouldn't either. I looked at Jason and mumbled, "Um, good. Hot." I didn't mention how Leo had harassed me about how he thought I looked strangely happy.

"So, like me?" Will joked with a hearty laugh. I blushed.

"Boo!" Kayla snorted as Lou Ellen used her spoon to fling a wad of mashed potatoes at Will. He dodged the potatoes, giggling.

I noticed that Will seemed normal now. While I couldn't put my finger on it, there had been something weird about when him when he had finished bandaging my arm. Whatever it had been, it wasn't there anymore. Will was definitely his silly, care-free (and annoying) self again.

To my left, Jason started telling his side of the table about a new shrine that he was working on. He said something about Annabeth helping, and she chimed in, "He's a picky god, so we're trying to get it just right." Jason started talking again, describing some of the nuances of the shrine, but I wasn't really listening. No, I was too distracted by what was going on at the other side of the table.

Will and Cecil had both shoved carrots into their upper lips and were preforming their best walrus impression. This included both head bobbing and folding their arms into pretend flippers. In my eighty two years on this earth, I had never seen anything like it. It was idiotic, foolish, pointless, churlish...

And really, really funny. I tried biting my bottom lip to stop myself from snickering as I watched them out of the corner of my eye.

It became too much when Will started _arf_ -ing like some sort of psychotic seal. Boisterous laughter bubbled out of me. I didn't like laughing out loud (it always drew too much attention), but I couldn't help was such a dork!

The table grew quiet almost instantly. My laughter died in my throat as everyone turned to stare at me.

What? It wasn't that weird for me to... okay, fine. I didn't usually laugh. But they didn't need to look at me like that! Oh gods, my cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Focusing my dinner, I viciously stabbed at the veggies on my plate. I refused to meet their inquiring gazes. I was not about to admit that I found Will's walrus impression hilarious, especially with Will right there. He'd never let me live it down. Unfortunately, it seemed like some of them interpreted the situations on their own. A few spots down from me, Percy cupped a hand around Annabeth's ear and whispered something to her, while staring at me.

Annabeth chuckled and replied softly, "Yea, I think so too."

Before I could snap at the two of them for gossiping about me, movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention.

Will, with the carrots still shoved in his lips, placed his face a few inches from mine. He hovered there, his face emotionless. He was clearly trying to get a rise out of me. But no, I was not about to give him that satisfaction. So I struggled to maintain a straight face as I continued to eat like nothing was abnormal. But Will didn't give up. He stayed where he was, staring intently at me with his stupid carrot teeth.

Everyone at the table was snickering.

Maybe a tiny bit of churlish behavior wouldn't kill me, I decided. So I scooped up some mashed potatoes with my spoon, turned, and smeared them onto Will's nose. When everyone started laughing, including Will, I allowed myself a small smile.

Having everyone at my table wasn't so bad.

The next day was Friday. Even at breakfast, the dining pavilion was abuzz with discussions about that night's Capture the Flag. While I was scooping eggs into my mouth, Percy and Jason surrounded me at my table and made sure (read: threatened) that I would be joining their side for Capture the Flag.

"Yea, fine." Reluctantly, I agreed. I never particularly looked forward to Capture the Flag. While Jason and Percy could use their big three gifts to their advantage, Chiron had explicitly asked me not to summon any skeletons during the games. He had mentioned something about the skeletons scaring the younger campers. Besides that, my shadow-travel had been decided by the other camp counselors to be a hundred and ten percent unfair (as I could just shadow-travel straight to the flag and then back across the river), so that was out too.

The day seemed to pass quickly. I headed to the forge and worked quietly for a few hours. Leo was too busy helping some of the younger campers with their tinkering to talk much with me.

The infirmary was my next stop. Will seemed normal today too, which was good. We bantered back and forth as he wrapped up my arms again. Apparently, my arms were healing at a fast pace. Or at least, that's what he said; I couldn't tell with all the gross salve covering them.

He asked me if I was going to start helping him in the infirmary like last summer. I gave him a noncommittal shrug for an answer. There were fences to be made, after all. And… well, maybe I wasn't sure about spending too much time with him right away. I needed some time to build up a resistance against Will again.

My bandages re-wrapped, I headed out of the infirmary. As I left, Will shouted, "See you at dinner!"

At dinner, I found myself surrounded by the same crowd as before. How on Tartarus did my table turn into the communal table? I feared to ask. Today, they were all relatively rambunctious, what with the game starting in an hour. Will and Jason kept exchanging playful threats over my head.

"Solace, your arrows won't do you any good when I control the air." Jason pointed out

"That's if you notice them before they hit ya, Grace!" Replied Will with a laugh.

While they argued, I twirled up spaghetti on my fork and nibbled at the pasta. I always liked spaghetti; it reminded me of my mother's cooking. The camp's spaghetti was never as good as hers, but I doubted anything would ever be.

Jason continued gloating, "Right now, we have all of the Big Three demigods on our team. Do you really think you have a chance against me, Percy, and Nico?" Even though it was unnecessary, Jason plopped his hand down on my head. I whacked it away, annoyed.

Will laughed. "Well, I can't say I've ever sparred with any of you before." He gave me a small nudge. "Maybe I'll finally get the opportunity, eh?"

I snorted at the idea. Will was a healer, not a fighter. "You wouldn't last more than two seconds." I told Will dryly, before slurping up some more spaghetti.

Clamping a hand over his heart, Will groaned in pretend pain. "Your lack of faith hurts me deeply."

My cheeks felt warm as I gave his shoulder a quick punch. "Dork." I huffed at him.

Annabeth insisted that the Blue team leave dinner early so that we could get ready. Armor, weapons, and spells were prepared. My team gathered up and Annabeth started relaying information and strategy. I was instructed to go the long way around and try and sneak up on their flag while Jason and Percy tried for a direct approach. Annabeth made some sort of weird metaphor about me being the seeker and everyone else chasers (at least, I think that's what she said?) that went right over my head. For some reason, everyone else nodded like they perfectly understood.

The game started and I entered the forest. The only good thing about Capture the Flag was that it was played at night, which was one of my favorite times of the day. I moved swiftly, crossing into the opposing team's territory in a matter of minutes. Every so often, I heard commotion from other demigods, but I always avoided them. It was almost too easy. The flag had to be around here somewhere.

I was on my way through the forest when a nearby noise caught my attention. Freezing, I grabbed the hilt of my sword. Then I heard it again, from behind me. I twisted around, pulling out my sword. But, before I could ready my sword, a hand smacked my sword to the ground.

It was Will Solace. Light from a mostly full moon illuminated his clean, white shirt and his blond hair.

I gasped and stumbled backwards. How had he gotten so close to me without me noticing? He matched my pace backwards with determined forward steps. My eyes searched the forest, looking for another alternative. Before I could find one, my back hit the trunk of a tree, forcing me to stop. Will didn't stop, though, until his entire body pressed onto mine, pinning me against the tree.

I forgot how to breathe.

There was something off with him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was because he seemed oddly perfect? His hair didn't looked as ruffled as usual. The way that Will was staring at me was also strange; he looked almost hungry.

"Will..." I gurgled out his name when I finally found my voice.

Why was he doing this? He knew that I was not that okay with physical contact. Well, yes, maybe I had dreamed about being this close to him. But so suddenly, without warning? No, my flight or fight responses were kicking in. Was he trying to prove a point? I thought back to dinner and how I'd told him he wouldn't last two seconds against me. Yes, it must be that.

"You win." I whimpered, trying to ignore how good his warm body felt pressed against me, "It's been more than two seconds. You can get off."

His eyes narrowed with what looked like confusion. "What?"

"What I said at -" His hand reached up and gently dug into my hair. Instead of finishing my sentence with dinner, I ended up making incoherent gurgle-y noises. My heart was pounding so hard that it hurt.

He started leaning his head towards mine.

"What are you doing?" I squeaked, my voice trembling. Part of me realized I could push him off, but I couldn't find the courage (or want) too. I was frozen in place.

"What do you think?" Will chuckled huskily.

My mind went blank as he closed his eyes and his lips got close to mine. But, right before our lips could touch, a cacophony of whoops and screams erupted from the forest nearby. Before I really could register what was happening, Will had backed up. He gave me a charming grin before turning and disappearing into the forest.

Through the trees, I saw several demigods, Jason and Percy included, waving a red flag. They hadn't passed the river yet, but there didn't seem to be much opposition following them.

I slid to the ground, breathing raggedly. A few minutes later, we won the game.

My heart was still pounding when I exited the forest. In the clearing between the camp and the forest, the demigods were clustered. The blue team was gloating; Percy and Jason were tossing the red flag back and forth like it was a football. I quietly glided over to them.

"Who's the best?" Percy yelled.

"We are!" Jason yelled back.

Arms suddenly wrapped around my shoulders and I had to resist the urge to judo-flip my assailant. "Good game, eh?" Will asked me, his voice incredibly nonchalant for how he had acted back in the forest.

Tensing, I mumbled, "Um. Yea." Internally, I was screaming at him. _Why are you so calm about this!? You almost kissed me! I don't know how to feel about all this!_

He released me and sauntered around to my side. "Too bad we didn't get our showdown!" I blinked in surprise at his words. What was he talking about? We did. He had pinned me against a damned tree! "Maybe next time?" He gave my shoulder a small shove.

I turned to glare at him, baffled and frustrated. That's when I noticed the large, dark red stains on his white shirt. Gasping, I asked him, "Did you get hurt?"

"Huh?" Will glanced down at his shirt. "Oh! No, that's just spaghetti sauce from dinner." He grinned sheepishly at me.

It felt like a wrench had been jammed in the cogs of my brain. Will hadn't had any stains on shirt when I'd run into him in the forest. I must have looked like a fish out of water, with my jaw dropped open.

Will rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. "Hey, in my defense, Cecil threw spaghetti at me after you guys left. I know how to eat without getting it all over myself." If I hadn't been so freaked out about the whole disappearing-reappearing stain thing, I might have wondered why Will and his friends always seemed to get into food fights at dinner.

Something soft pegged me in the face. The flag. "Sorry Nico!" Jason yelled at me.

All my frustration manifested itself into rage at that small act. Furious about my run-in with Will in the forest (and how could it have been Will if he didn't have stains on his shirt, but then who else could have it had been, and how in the end I wasn't sure of anything), I twisted my foot on the ground and opened a crack below the flag. The flag fell into the hole and tumbled down into the underworld.

Jason, Percy, and Will all stared at me in surprise.

I couldn't explain my rage to them, so I stormed away before they could ask.

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -


	3. Blinding Light

_Chapter 3:_ **Blinding Light**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

The next day at lunch, I wondered aloud, "Is it possible, if you really like someone, to have something you imagined happening with them feel real?"

Both Piper and Annabeth sharply looked at me, their eyes as wide as dinner plates. After a moment, Annabeth spoke hesitantly. "Hm... maybe. Sometimes the brain can become delirious in certain situations... why do you ask, Nico?"

Clearing my throat nervously, I muttered, "No reason." Maybe that had been a stupid thing to ask.

Piper and Annabeth shared a glance. "You know, Nico, if you like someone, you can tell us." Piper said reassuringly.

I ignored them and started attacking my peas with my fork. I'd never been one for sharing. Besides, this situation went beyond a simple crush. This was my mind playing tricks on me. That last thing I wanted was for them to think that I'd finally cracked and gone crazy.

"We wouldn't tell our blabbermouth boyfriends." Annabeth added with a grin.

Piper giggled. "Neither of them are very good at keeping secrets, are they?"

"Remember, last summer, when we found out that Katie and Travis were dating?"

Piper let out a low whistle. "And Percy accidentally blurted it out at the Camp Counselor meeting? Yea, I remember that." I remembered that too. Poor Connor had looked like someone had smashed his heart apart with a brick.

"More reason to not say anything." I muttered softly. Annabeth and Piper might not have been as loudmouthed as their boyfriends, but better safe than sorry. Just like what had happened with Travis and Katie, rumors tended to get around.

"Okay, well, let us know if that changes." Annabeth said with a shrug.

Piper grinned mischievously. "I'm just saying, but I make an excellent wing-woman."

Rolling my eyes, I focused on finishing my breakfast.

Leo was showing one of his siblings how to proper handle electrical wires when I got back to the forge. Ever since he and Calypso had come back from their travels, he'd dutifully taken up the camp counselor duties. I was pretty sure he really liked helping his siblings learn. It helped that he wasn't a half bad teacher.

Since he was busy, I worked silently in my corner of the forge. While the rest of the Hephaestus kids tackled cool and challenging tasks, I hammered out fence railings. It wasn't much of a task, but it was something.

I didn't even notice that Leo had come over to my side until he spoke. "Hey Nicks, you know, with everyone back, are you sure there aren't other things you'd rather do around camp?" Before I could get annoyed at him for trying to kick me out, he added. "I'm sure Percy and Jason would love for you to help them with some of their classes!"

I hesitated. Jason and Percy had been on and off pestering me with that suggestion over the last few days. "Yea, they've asked me a few times."

Leo smiled kindly at me. "Then why don't you? Not that you aren't welcome here – you totally are – but why not give their classes a try? It's just a thought." He turned and sauntered back to where he'd been helping his sibling with her wires.

I sighed. Maybe he was right. Which, by the way, was pretty weird for Leo.

I put my supplies away and headed out of the forge early. I was about to head towards the sword training arena when I remembered my bandaged arms. Will had made me promise to visit every day so that he could change out the bandages. The thought of seeing him again after what happened during Capture the Flag made me feel kind of dizzy, but I didn't have a choice.

I had a feeling that if I tried to skip today's appointment, the healer would make a house call. He was relentless like that.

The first thing that I noticed when I entered the infirmary was that the plaque with Will's name was flipped to show his name. Kayla, who had been sitting at the desk by the entrance, greeted me and went off to get him.

"Good morning, Nico!" Will greeted me as he ducked out from a curtained examine room, smiling his sunny smile. "You're here early."

I shrugged and jammed my hands in my pocket. _Act cool_ , I chastised myself. "Yea, well..." Words were stupidly difficult to come up with.

Will linked his arm with mine and I flushed. "Come on then, let's get those bandages changed out!" He dragged me to our regular room. Thankfully, he was normal Will today. During the Capture the Flag yesterday, there had been a rather hungry look in his eyes (although I was growing more and more convinced I had imagined my run in with him). Today, he just looked passively cheerful.

Will started whistling a sweet tune as he got my vitals. Occasionally, he paused in his whistling to ask me medical questions.

"Have your bandages been itching?"

"No."

"Experienced any migraines or strange ailments?"

"No."

"Have your bowel movements been regular?"

"What the heck kind of question is that, Will!?"

"A medical question. I'll put you down for 'yes'."

When he started on my bandages, I tried to focus on my shoes. I traced the white laces with my eyes as I tried to distract myself from his touch. In the back of my head, I could hear Clovis giving me tips on breathing exercises. _Inhale, count to three, and then exhale_.

It didn't help. Flashes of yesterday ran through my head: how it exhilarating it had been to be pinned against the tree, how Will had gazed at me greedily, and how he'd nearly kissed me. My heart started to speed up. Annabeth would have probably informed me that my reaction was due to an increase of adrenaline and other such hormones within my system. She was good at simplifying emotional reactions into facts.

Will finished wrapping my arms. "All done!" He declared.

I jumped hastily to my feet. "Okay, great, thanks." Before I could even take a step, Will grabbed my shoulders.

"Wow, where's the fire?" He asked. I gulped and was about to make up a lie when his hands squeezed tighter on my shoulders and his eyebrows knitted together. "Why is your heart racing?"

Damn those Apollo healing skills of his. I wished that Will didn't have the ability to sense heart rate just by touching me. I tried to shrug off his hands. "It's nothing, I'm fine."

His hands remained planted on my shoulders. "No, you're not fine, that's not normal. Are you feeling alright?" He moved one of his hands from my shoulder to my head, checking for my temperature.

 _No, I'm feeling extremely flustered!_ But I didn't say that. Right then, all I wanted to do was run back to my cabin and hide under the sheets of my bed. I didn't want my silly, pointless crush to freak Will out. "No, I'm fine!" I growled at Will as I tried to shoulder past him.

"Just wait Nico, let me look at you!" As he argued with me, he backed up and tried to stay in my way. My stomach was doing flips. I tried to push him out of the way, but in my rush, I ended up tripping over the edge of the curtain of the exam room. My center of balance compromised, I ended up falling straight into Will and knocking both of us over. The curtain came down with us.

 _Oh gods._

We were sprawled on the ground, me on top of Will. The curtain was piled on the ground around us. His cheeks were red as we stared at each other for a long moment. Just like the other day when I'd been pinned against the tree, I felt frozen.

It wasn't until one of his siblings ostentatiously cleared his throat that we jumped apart.

"Nico..." He began to say, looking dazed. I didn't wait for him to finish.

"Okay-bye-see-you-tomorrow!" The words tumbled out of my mouth as I shoved myself to my feet. Heart pounding fiercely in my chest, I raced out of the infirmary.

I didn't stop until I got to my cabin and slammed the door shut. The way that Will had looked at me had been when we were sprawled on the floor... it had looked like... could it be my imagination again? It was different from the Will in the forest. It hadn't been a fierce, hungry look, but it was something close to that.

Did he return my feelings? That would mean that he had, well... similar interests. It seemed so improbable, so unlikely. What had I done to deserve such dumb luck?

Nervously, I began to fiddle with my skull ring, twisting it around and around on my finger.

Yet... maybe. Maybe he did. A glimmer of hope began to build within my chest. For once, I let myself entertain the idea that, yes, maybe Will liked me back. It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time. Last summer, I had spent the entire four months trying to stop myself from falling for him, trying to stop myself from ending up in the same situation as when I had liked Percy. But, Will was not Percy.

A knock on the door caught my attention. I wasn't sure who was visiting, what with it being the middle of the day. As childish as it was, a part of me hoped it was Will. I went and opened the door.

It was Will. He looked perfect, like some sort of beautiful painting... oh geez, I really did have it bad for him.

"Will, what -" I started to ask _what are you doing here_ but I didn't get the chance to finish. All within roughly two seconds, Will stepped into the cabin, slammed the door shut, threw an arm around my waist, spun us both around, and pinned me against the door. I barely had the chance to gasp before his lips claimed mine.

Just like that, he stole my first kiss.

It was hot and heavy, this kiss. Will kissed me like he might never get a chance to again, and I wasn't really sure how to respond – or if I should. In fact, I kind of reeled in shock for most of it. Was this my imagination again? How could this be reality?

The shock started to fade and I was left with a yearning building up within me. Shyly, I started to return the kiss, moving my lips with his.

I felt light pressure on my hips. It took me a second to realize that those were his hands. _Oh gods. No, this is too much._ Yet... at the same time, it was so very intoxicating. My body felt like it's on fire and I was hyper aware of every bit of him that was pressing into me. When he slipped his tongue into my mouth, I couldn't hold back a moan.

When he finally broke the kiss, I was shaking and gasping for breath. If he hadn't had me pinned up against the door, I would have slid to the floor. My legs had turned into jelly.

Will chuckled softly in my ear and pressed harder against me. But... it was all going too fast, too much. I struggled to find my voice. _Slower_ , I wanted to ask. In my head, I had always imagined nice dates and little kisses on the cheek before getting to anything of this caliber.

I met his hungry gaze. His face is so beautiful, it almost hurt. _Weird_ , I thought to myself. Will always looked handsome, but after making out so fiercely with him, he seemed to attain a new level of beauty. Everything, right down to his intense, cobalt blue irises, was captivating.

Wait.

Will's eyes weren't a deep blue like that. No, they were a light blue, like the sky on a cloudless day. I knew that by heart.

Something was wrong. In my head, I started to connect the dots. The strange behavior over the last few days... the stains on his shirt during Capture the Flag…

This wasn't Will.

Pure panic exploded in my chest. Acting on instinct, I jammed my arms against the imposter's chest and tried to push him away. Even though I levied all my strength against him, he didn't budge. As if he didn't even notice my attempts to push him away, he leaned his head down into the crook of my neck and pressed his lips against my collarbone.

"Something wrong, babe?" He breathed huskily.

"W-who are you?" I spluttered.

"Me? I'm Will Solace." He hummed as he started to kiss up the side of my neck. "Don't you want me, Nico?"

My hormones said yes, but everything else said no. "W-will's... eyes are different." I whispered agonizingly.

Will froze. Then, his entire body started to shake as he chuckled. "Okay, you got me. I can never quite get the eyes right."

There was a blinding flash that made me feel sick. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on not throwing up. However, what I saw when I opened my eyes again made me much queasier than any blinding flash ever could.

Instead of being pinned against the door by Will Solace, I was being pinned up against the door by his father, the Greek god Apollo.

I screamed as I tried to shove him away again.

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -


	4. Red-Hot

_Chapter 4:_ **Red-Hot**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

"W-why would you... ugh!" I couldn't properly speak. I couldn't properly think. Apollo had me pinned up against the door and, despite me trying to push him away, hadn't backed off.

He looked the exact same as when I last saw him, back when I was a child, with the exception of his clothes (he was still wearing Will's Camp Half-Blood shirt). His blond hair was similar to Will's, but his skin was several shades tanner. His smile was literally blinding, as if there was a mini-sun embedded in every tooth. In the back of my mind, I recalled that I'd been impressed when I had first met him, back when I was a child. Like Thalia had observed way back when, the sun god was hot.

But I had no interest in the sun god now, hot or not. Especially not when he pretended to be his _son_. There was all sorts of wrong there. I felt terrified, disgusted.

 _Oh gods. I made out with Will's dad._ I was feeling queasier and queasier.

"Hey, calm down, it's alright." Apollo said, smiling. _Alright!?_ He called this alright!? Apollo had a twisted sense of what was alright. I open my mouth to yell at him, but he cut me off by touching his forehead to mine. Tingling sensations ran down my entire body, like someone had just poured painkillers into my system. I found myself relaxing. "Do you want me to apologize for liking you?"

His lips brushed mine again. I forgot about resisting. I felt so very calm, too calm… but then, reality smacked me in the face and I had enough sense to turn my head and break the kiss. No, I didn't want Apollo to kiss me. He disguised himself as his son and took advantage of my private feelings in order to steal my first kiss.

"Why would you... you were _Will_... he's your _son_!" If I vomited, I would make sure to aim at Apollo. He would deserve it. Also, maybe it'd get him to back up? He still had me backed against the door.

"Me and him have similar tastes." Apollo said with a simple shrug.

I would have shadow-traveled right then and there, but he was too bright. There were no shadows with Apollo close by. "Go away." I whimpered, trying to sound brave. It was fake, what little courage I managed to leak into my words; I hadn't felt this level of fear since my battle with Orion.

I hated how powerless and confused I felt.

Thankfully, Apollo froze. "I won't hurt you. I just want..." His voice trembled and he hesitated, as if he was confused by his own wants, "... I want you to swear yourself to me."

... huh?

My brain short circuited. Apollo wanted me to do what now? No, that was insane. I must have heard him wrong. He can't be, as Will often said, _for real_.

"What?" What all I squeaked out in reply.

Apollo's cobalt blue eyes only seemed to grow more intense as they gazed into my own. "I want you to be mine and only mine."

"Uhhh," was the noise that eeked out of me. He... wanted... oh gods. Apollo was clearly off his rocker. There was no way I'd ever commit myself to him. First of all, I had a thing for Will (although I wasn't about to go promising myself to him either) _not_ Apollo.

He started to lean in again. "I can take good care of you. You'll be set for life, if you're mine."

But, that wasn't what I wanted. I liked my life in the camp, bugging Will, helping Percy and Jason, watching Leo accidentally set things on fire. It was a good life. No, I didn't want to turn into some lap dog for Apollo. The idea was revolting, not appealing. So, I jammed my arms against his chest and pushed again. Obviously, my meak mortal muscles didn't move Apollo, but they sent a message. I also told him, "I don't want that. I don't want you."

There was a dichotomy in Apollo's expression: his grin was devious but his eyes were sad. "But you want Will. How long can you resist me when I can be him for you?" I found myself blinded again by light. When my vision recovered, the tanned god was gone and replaced with his much more pleasant son.

His eyes were still that wrong color. I tried to focus on that, rather than how my heart fluttered involuntarily at having Will (well, a fake Will) pinning me to the door.

"It's not the same." I tried to argue, tried to resist, but then he started touching me again. There was something funny about when Will – _no, Apollo_ – touched me. It send strange electricity into my veins, encouraging me to shrink the space between us and lock lips again.

 _No, stop._ I chastised myself. _I don't want him._ But, he did look an awful lot like Will. I was pretty sure that if I closed my eyes and ran my hands through his hair, it would feel like it was really Will. With every electric touch, Apollo egged on my temptation to try.

A knock on the door saved me. Apollo froze and swore with annoyance. "You'll see me again, lover boy." He promised as he pressed his lips (Will's lips?) into mine one last time before vanishing in a flash of light.

The moment he vanished, the electricity that had been in my veins fizzled out. I crashed down to earth from that strange high and immediately felt like shit. My stomach was doing flips while my mind was reeling with horror.

It was terrifying how much control Apollo had exerted over my emotions and over my urges. Apollo had had me trapped in my own body, prisoner to desire.

Tears started welling in the corners of my eyes as the true terror of the situation hit me: Apollo wanted me to swear myself to him, which was probably a permanent oath, if I'd learned anything from my times with the gods. On top of that, I hadn't a clue as to why Apollo wanted this from me; I was only some mostly normal demigod with a crush on his son. Surely he didn't play this terrible game with every one of his kid's love interests?

There was something severely awry.

A second knock. I realized that if, whoever was knocking, hadn't come... oh gods. What if I had lost my mind and promised something to Apollo? Hyperventilating, I twisted around and yanked the door open.

It was Annabeth. Annabeth, my knight in shining armor.

"Hey Nico." She greeted, a clipboard in hand. "Jason and I were hoping to get you to help us move some ground for the shrine -" She didn't finish because I threw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. I was shaking and I couldn't stop. My breaths were coming out as ragged sobs.

I ended up knocking her over so that we were sitting on the porch, her rubbing my back. I realized that this was weird for both of us, but right now I needed it.

"Nico!" She gasped, "What's wrong?" At first, it was too hard to reply. I was shaking too much to find my voice. My head to replaying how Apollo had grinned at me, a grin that had made me feel like a hunted animal. "Are you hurt? What happened?" Annabeth started looking around frantically; whether for explanation or help, I wasn't sure.

"H-he said..." _He said he'd be back._ But my voice trailed off as my mind worried around my monumental problems. What was I going to do when I was trapped by Apollo a second time?

Annabeth's voice was raised by a few pitches. "How about we get you to the infirmary, Nico?"

The infirmary. Where Will was. No, I couldn't. That would mean telling Will _. I can't tell Will… I can't tell anyone._ The realization settled down onto me like the weight of the earth settled on Atlas. Imagine the uproar around camp if everyone found out that I'd become Apollo's latest interest? Will would never look at me twice. He wouldn't want someone whom his father has his target set on. No, it'd be much better for me to handle the situation by myself.

I was the son of god of the underworld. Surely there had be something that I could do to handle this situation. I was the freaking son of Hades! Yea, I could totally handle it by myself.

There was no need to involve the others. It would only make things worse. "No!" I shouted as I jumped to my feet and took a few steps backwards, away from Annabeth. "No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Sorry, I got, um, spooked."

"Spooked." Repeated Annabeth, incredulous. "You. Got _spooked_?"

"Yes! It happens! I thought I saw, uh..." In my panic, I was yelling at her. The problem is, the spooked thing was a spontaneous excuse and, honestly, I wasn't sure what would actually spoke me. Rather lamely, I lied, "... a ghost. I saw a ghost."

"... a ghost." It didn't look like Annabeth was buying that excuse.

"Um. Yes."

"Nico, you're the son of Hades. Ghosts fall into your father's domain. I thought you dealt with them regularly?" Damn Annabeth and her rather encyclopedia knowledge of the gods. Ah, who was I kidding? It was such a poor excuse that even Percy would have seen through it.

"Yes, well, this one appeared rather suddenly and I wasn't expecting it. It was briefly overwhelming." I emphasized the word _briefly_ in efforts to assure Annabeth that I was perfectly fine now and she could stop the inquisition. After all, I wasn't about to tell her anything else.

"Okay..." She replied, still sounding suspicious.

My instincts told me to run, to avoid the situation. "Anyways, I'm very busy right now, so I should get back to work." I told her curtly as I turning on heel, I started to march back into my cabin. However, right as I was about to slam the door closed, Apollo's promise came back to me.

 _You'll see me again, lover boy._

The moment I closed that door and isolated myself, Apollo could come back. No, I couldn't be alone. Not anymore.

A plan started to form quickly in my head. Apollo had left awfully quickly when Annabeth had arrived. It seemed like he wasn't interested in dealing with other people interfering… so, if Apollo couldn't get me alone, he couldn't try anything with me. If I kept myself from being available for him to harass, eventually he would get bored. Gods were awfully fickle like that.

Yea, that'd have to work. I wasn't sure how I'd keep myself from being alone, but I was sure I could figure it out. I had time.

Recalling Clovis' breathing techniques, I counted back down from ten before slowly turning around. Annabeth was picking herself up off the grass, looking utterly baffled. I cleared my throat and awkwardly asked, "Um. Actually, I could use a break from my work. So, uh, what were you asking about?" My voice wobbled.

Annabeth stared at me in shock. "Uhh... I was hoping you could help us move some earth. We're in the process of building a new shrine."

"Yes, I'd love to help." I declared, trying to keep my voice sounding as normal as possible.

"Uh, okay then." Annabeth replied tentatively, before starting to lead me across camp. She kept glancing back at me nervously, like I might suddenly have another break down on the way to the shrine.

On the edge of camp was where the shrine was to be located. Jason was waiting there, rubbing his chin as he examined some paperwork on his clipboard. He looked up as we approached. "Okay, hey guys!" As he was telling me about the stuff he needed moved, I found myself wondering how I was going to pull it off. Yes, I could rip holes in the earth, but I wasn't a bulldozer. Too bad I'd already agreed to help.

Annabeth wasn't very subtle when she darted over to Jason's side and started whispering in his ear. His expression changed to one of concern as she spoke. _Great,_ I thought grumpily.

Focusing at tactfully ripping holes into the ground to drag certain rocks down, I pretended not to notice Jason until he was right beside me.

"Hey Nico, how are you doing?" Jason asked politely.

"I'm fine." I snap back. _Go away._

"Are you sure? Because Annabeth said -"

I cut him off. "I was a little flustered earlier, that's all."

"Flustered?" Jason tilted his head curiously, "Flustered over a ghost?"

What was this, an interrogation? I'm pretty sure my attitude made it clear that I did not want to share what happened. This was the downfall of having friends: they never understood that there were some things you did not want to tell them, period.

"Holy Hades, I'm allowed to be freaked out by a ghost, Grace! It's nothing. Get off my back," is what I snarled at him, before willing the holes in the earth to smash close. The earth was how he wanted it, more or less. "Done. Bye."

I turned and stormed away while their stares bore holes in my back.

My cabin wasn't a safe place to be any more. I hadn't a clue what I was going to do at night, but I knew I couldn't go there now. So, I stormed over and into the Hephaestus cabin. Leo looked up from his work, surprised. "Oh, hey Nico. I thought you left for the day?" He asked. I shrugged before grabbing my tongs and some railing and getting to work.

Work helped keep my mind off my problems.

The hammer clanked loudly as I whacked the railings together. Every swing of the hammer was a relief. Seeing the changes I was creating in the railing helped me get over how powerless I felt about the whole situation.

Apollo. The Greek God known in part for chasing a woman who wasn't interested in him to the point that she elected to turn into a tree to escape him. But I wasn't Daphne, and I did not want to become a laurel tree. Anger started to build up within me. It wasn't fair. I already had lost my mother and lost my sister, not to mention that I was the son of the god everyone feared. Why did Apollo have to make my life harder than it already was? Why couldn't he pick on someone else and let me keep what little happiness I had?

"Um, dude, are you alright?" Leo was standing by my shoulder, staring at the railings that I'd viciously hammered completely flat. _Oops._

"I'm fine." I huffed, blushing.

"... really? Cause you hammered that railing flatter than a penny. Also, you're kind of radiating shadows."

My arms did have darkness rolling off them, like some sort of anti-sun. "Oh. Sorry." I apologized, before closing my eyes and breathing deeply. I was safe here; there was no point in getting needlessly worked up.

"It's... no big deal." Leo murmured, rubbing the back of his head. He looked concerned, just like Jason and Annabeth. _Great_. Before the end of the day, everyone was going to know that something was wrong with me.

Pushing myself up, I coughed awkwardly. "I, uh, think I'm going to leave now." I didn't have a clue where I was going to go, but it didn't matter as long as I didn't have to answer a million questions about _what happened, what's wrong, are you okay?_

I was in the middle of putting my tools up when the door to the cabin opened and Will Solace – the real one, judging by his messy blond hair – poked his head in. "Hey Leo, is Nico -" Then he saw me and we stared at each other. _Oh shit._ I thought. "Oh, there you are."

My stomach felt queasy again. Yes, this was normal Will, with his wrinkled Camp Half-Blood shirt and sky blue eyes. Will walked over to me, looking concerned. Immediately, I knew that Annabeth and Jason must have got to him.

Sure enough, he confirmed my fears by saying, "Nico, Annabeth said you were distraught earlier. What happened?" As he approached, I backed up. My body was reacting all on its own, with my heart speeding up and unnecessary yearning building up within me. I found myself wondering if kissing Will was nicer than kissing Apollo.

Even with Leo there, I had the urge to pull Will close and find out.

My back bumped into the wall of the cabin. "I'm fine." I growled at Will.

He grabbed my hands and I had to lock my legs to keep them from giving out. "Then why is your heart racing?" Damn those Apollo gifts of his.

"Um... it's hot in here. In the forge."

"Nico," Will told me sternly, "You're a terrible liar." He slipped his fingers in between mine. Because I was distracted by how well our hands fit together, Will was able to drag me out of the cabin before I could really register what was happening.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stumbled behind him.

"I'm taking you to the infirmary. Something's wrong with you and I'm going to find out what."

It's like Will knew exactly what to say to frustrate me more. There was no way in Tartarus that I was going to let him find out what happened. Now, a ton of stupid medical tests wouldn't give anything away, but I can't say I was thrilled at the idea of being subjected to them _. No thank you!_

That's when I had the brilliant idea to run. After all, I was pretty sure I was faster than Will. If he couldn't catch me, he couldn't torture me with his random medical tests.

I slipped my hand out of his and started looking around for the best route.

Will frowned at me, "Nico, what do you think you're -?" That's when I started my escape. I took off like a hellhound, my shoes pounding on the grass as I ran. "Gods dammit, Nico!" I heard Will shout before he started to run after me.

There really weren't many places to go. None of the cabins had locks on the doors and, even if they did, I was pretty sure Will would have busted the doors down anyways. He was tenacious like that. No, the only place I had a chance at hiding in was the forest, so that's where I headed.

I dashed through the center of camp, dodging confused demigods as I went. Surprisingly, Will kept up; by the time I was cutting through the sword fighting arena, he was practically on my heels.

Percy was in the middle of teaching a sword fighting class. "'Scuse me!" I shouted as I pushed my way through his students.

"Wow, what's going on?" Percy yelped as I shoved past him too. I was too busy running to answer him. Continuing past him, I started climbing the slope surrounding the sword fighting arena.

One risked glance over my shoulder revealed that Will was right behind me. _Shit_ , I thought, _I didn't think he was that fast._ Some of my steam was starting to run out. My lungs were starting to burn and my legs were a different kind of numb then they had been when Will had gotten close.

"You guys are a weird couple!" If I hadn't been so focused on running away, I would have turned around and summoned some skeletons to harass Percy for that asinine comment that he shouted at us.

I reached the top of the hill and a surge of victory rushed through me. The edge of the forest was only a short dash away. Laughing, I doubled my efforts as I powered forward. All the adrenaline pounding through my system felt great; in the moment, I forgot about my worries. Honestly, I found myself thinking that I should run more often.

And then I slipped on a patch of wet grass.

I face planted straight into the ground in the most ungraceful way. I wasn't hurt, but I did end up with a disgusting mouthful of dirt and debris. Hefting myself back to my feet, I started spitting frantically. _Ew, ew, ew._

And then I was knocked back to the ground again when Will tackled me.

"HA!" He shouted, his arms wrapping around my torso. Growling, I struggled against his grip. That's how we ended up wrestling on the ground for a little while.

No, I will not admit how much I liked it. Don't ask. Officially, I was trying to escape so that he wouldn't preform a hundred stupid medical tests on me. Yes, I know, I was grinning the whole time. I don't see how that's relevant.

Anyways, I would have won, except Will discovered a weakness of mine.

"Oh gods, no!" I yelped as I tried to crunch up. Unfortunately, Will had managed to get on top of me and was straddling my waist. There was no way for me to effectively protect myself from his ruthless onslaught.

Will started laughing manically, "Oh, look at that! The great son of Hades is ticklish!" His fingers dug into my sides, inciting nerves. Squirming instinctively, I tried and failed to push him off.

"You're pure evil!" I gasped in between involuntary giggles.

Laughter peeled out of my attacker. "At last, my true nature is revealed!" He shouted playfully. Finally, his fingers stilled and I managed to catch my breath. A satisfied smile was plastered on Will's face.

Again, the way he looked at me reminded me of the hunger that Apollo had in his gaze. Yet, there was a big difference between the two: Will's gaze was much softer and much sweeter than Apollo's.

I liked Will's look a lot more.

Heat rushed to my face. "Get off, you big lug!" I grumbled as I glared at him hotly. When I tried to push him off again, he caught my wrists and held them.

"I will, in a second. Just let me enjoy this moment." Will smirked down at me.

A few long seconds passed as Will stared down at me through narrowed eyes. His entire face and ears was pink, but that might have been due to the exercise from wrestling. Meanwhile, my cheeks got redder and redder. Finally, though, he did roll off me. Sighing with relief, I started to climb back up to my feet.

And then the ground disappeared from under me as Will's shoulder pressed into my stomach and his arms grabbed my legs. I found myself half inverted, hanging over Will's shoulder. "What the fuck, Will!" I yelped.

"This is what happens when you don't cooperate!" Will declared as he started to carry me back to camp.

\- **x** \- **x** - **x** -

 **A/N:** Ghosts are scary.

So, this chapter is where we're starting to see a few of my new tweaks to the original chapters (from four years ago).

If you read the story back then, you might notice a few differences!

The subtle details are important to our future story line. :)

IF


	5. Hearth

_Chapter 5:_ **Hearth**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

I decided to let Will win. He was too exhausting to run from.

However, as we walked through camp, I glared daggers at everyone we passed, daring them silently to laugh at my predicament. There was an army of skeletons that I could summon easily for anyone who thought seeing the son of Hades thrown over the shoulder of a healer was funny.

Most demigods were smart enough to bite their tongue as we passed, with only a few exceptions. When we passed Percy, who was still teaching his sword fighting class, he fell over onto the ground in a fit of laughter.

He stopped laughing the moment that a couple of skeletons crawled their way out of the ground and started to claw at him.

Leo and Calypso were sitting outside the Hephaestus cabin when Will and I passed. I heard her ask Leo, "Is this some sort of custom I am unaware of?"

"Nah," Leo replied, grinning cheekily, "That's just good old flirting."

I sent some skeletons after him too.

Kayla balked when Will walked into the infirmary with me over his shoulder. "Hello Kayla, I have brought us a new patient!" He informed her cheerfully.

"Um. I can see that." She replied nervously, eying me like I might summon a zombie army at any moment (which really wasn't too bad of an idea).

As annoying as it was, I let Will perform a myriad of medical tests on me. Not only did he get my vitals but he drew blood, tested my reflexes, and asked me a billion medical history questions. ("No, I don't remember what vaccinations I got back in the 1940s, Will.")

I only started to argue when he rolled out an EKG machine and insisted on hooking me up.

"My heart's fine." I snapped.

"I don't care. Now take your shirt off before I take it off for you." Will commanded stubbornly.

I blushed and spluttered a few ancient Greek cuss words. It was Kayla who saved me. She strutted into the room, hands on her hips. "Will, this machine isn't a toy." She chastised him, before grabbing the machine and rolling it away.

On that note, I wasn't sure how the Apollo healers had gotten their paws on an EKG machine. There wasn't a lot of technology around camp. Part of the reason was that tech that was capable of wireless signals attracted monsters, but it also didn't help that Chiron didn't really see the need for most technology.

"You know, if you just told me what happened, I wouldn't have to do all this." Will mumbled so softly that I almost didn't hear him. I understood, though. Will knew just as well as I did that these tests were unnecessary; my issues weren't health-related. This was just his way to trying to pester me into opening up.

I figured Annabeth and Jason had already told him my half-assed story about the ghost. I didn't bother bring that horrid excuse back up. Instead, I stuck with stubborn silence.

With the EKG ix-nayed by Kayla, Will started to chew his lip and flip through his paperwork. I could tell he was running out of tests. It was kind of touching how his worry for me was making him go way overboard.

Before he could invent any medical tests, Austin, one of Will's siblings, suddenly burst through the curtains. "Will, I need to borrow you. Clarisse got poisoned by something, so we need to draw blood… but, well, you know how she is…"

" _Get that needle away from me!"_ Clarisse's voice screamed from the other room.

Sighing, Will dropped his clipboard on the nearest counter. "Yea, I'll come. I don't understand how a daughter of Ares is so terrified of needles, though!" Will then fixed me with a glare. "Don't leave." He commanded, before turning and following Austin through the curtains.

I was alone.

 _Breathe,_ I told myself as I started to nervously twist my skeleton ring around my finger. Fear was creeping in. I was alone, which meant that Apollo could show up. _I'm not safe,_ I thought miserably as I eyed the curtains around me.

When the curtains moved, I jolted off the gurney bed so quickly that I propelled myself straight into the counter. Pain shot through my hip, causing me to hiss.

Rachel Dare stared at me with confusion. Or, it could have easily been Apollo pretending to be Rachel. My eyes inspected the girl in front of me cautiously. I relaxed when I noticed that she didn't have the aura of perfection that Apollo exuded whenever he was pretending to be someone. Rachel's crazy red hair was dirty with paint flecks and there were a few dots of acne on her cheeks.

"You alright?" She said, eyeing my hip.

"Fine." I answered curtly. I wasn't sure what she was doing here, visiting me. Typically, Rachel was too busy doing whatever oracles do during the day time. "Did you want something?"

Rachel stuck her hands into her blue jean's pockets and half smiled. "Sorta. I heard something happened today?"

Great. Another overly concerned soul. I let out a tortured sigh. "No. Nothing happened. Go away." Rubbing my hip, I walked back over to the bed and sat back down.

"Then why did I feel a god's presence earlier today?" Her question caught me off guard. That didn't sound like an ability the oracle should have. Besides that, I was under the impression that her oracle powers were still out of commission.

"W-what? How could you even –"

She cut me off with a wave of a hand. "It's one of the things that I learned from Pan before he died. Now, the presence felt like was coming from the Hades cabin, but I wasn't sure at first."

I stayed silent, mortified by what she knew. It was only a piece of the puzzle, but it was enough to give Annabeth, Jason, and Will a lead. Knowing how inquisitive those three could be, a single lead could evolve into my secret being discovered.

Rachel took a few steps closer to me, the corners of her lips turned down with worry. "Nico, if you tell me what happened, I swear on the River Styx that I will not tell anyone else. Everything you say to me is confidential."

Blinking, I gaped at the unexpected offer. All I could manage was some sass to cover up how nervous I was. "What are you, the camp psychiatrist?" Rachel's offer was surprisingly tempting.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Gotta make myself useful somehow, what with the power of the oracle still gone." Rachel inched over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, about a foot away. "Now, what happened?"

I'm not really sure why, but I started spilling my guts to her. Maybe it was because I really wanted, _needed_ , an ally.

Voice shaking, I told her about how Will had been acting weird on and off, how I had suspected something, and then… Apollo. The whole time, she listened dutifully, nodding and occasionally _ooh_ ing sadly. Normally, I wasn't that big on talking but the words kept pouring out. This is how I knew that I had become crazy: I even confessed to Rachel that I liked Will more than as a friend, which was among several reasons why I was so abject to the idea of Apollo.

At no point did Rachel seem to judge me. Concern was etched into her features from the moment I started my story to when I ended with tears burning at the edges of my eyes.

"Oh gods, Nico. That's awful. And he said he was coming back?" Rachel asked when I finished.

"Yes." My voice was shaking, "He said he won't give up until I… promise myself to him."

Rachel stared at me for a long moment before stating, "That crazy bastard."

Her comment was so unexpected that a few half-hearted giggles bubbled out of me. "Yea…" I took a deep breath, before divulging to her, "I'm afraid that when I'm alone, he'll come back." My voice shrunk to a guilty whisper. "I don't feel safe in my own cabin."

Rachel tilted her head curiously. "No offense, but can't you go hide in the Underworld?"

"No," I replied with a huff, "my father cut off my access to the Underworld about a year ago. He thought my visits to the dead were making me depressed and antisocial… or something like that. I'm stuck here."

"Oh." Rachel said, frowning. A silence settled over us, while I contemplated my own doom and Rachel stared wistfully at her mismatched, painted nails. "Well… would you like a new roommate?"

I whipped my head up to stare at her. "What?"

"The Big House's attic isn't exactly the nicest place anyways. I'll think of it as a vacation onto ground-level!" I wasn't sure what to say. She took my hesitation as a sign to add, "Don't worry, I know I can get Chiron to agree."

Part of me wanted to say no. Part of me wanted to be self-sufficient, strong, and solitary. A son of Hades should be able to handle his own issues without getting a mortal involved, right? However, my fear was stronger than my pride.

I doubted Apollo would try anything on me with others in my cabin with me. It seemed like he was interested in discretion. Or, perhaps his psychological charms only worked when other mortals weren't present? Regardless, company was good. And, the fact that Rachel was immune from the powers of mist, godly or otherwise, was icing on the top of the cake. While Apollo might be able to use the mist to trick others into leaving or looking away, it wouldn't work with Rachel Dare.

"Okay." I agreed. Rachel smiled.

"Okay, I'm back!" The curtains moved as Will ducked through them. There were some new blood splatters on his orange camp shirt. He stopped when he saw Rachel, blinking in confusion.

"Hello Will!" Rachel greeted pleasantly.

"Hi Rachel." Will replied apprehensively. "What's going on?"

"I was just talking to Nico." She replied, "Everything's under control now, though."

His eyes suspiciously darted back and forth between me and Rachel. Tensing up, I held my breath. Maybe Will would accept what Rachel said and let the issue go?

Nope. Will stepped forward, grabbed Rachel by the arm, and dragged her out of the curtained examine room. The moment the curtain flapped back into place, they started whispering back and forth, but they weren't loud enough for me to catch any specific words.

I was very glad that Rachel had sworn on the River Styx. While I wished I could hear what they were discussing, at least I knew that Rachel wasn't about to tell Will the truth.

When they came back into the room, Rachel looked cheerful and Will looked defeated.

"Well, it's all settled!" She announced.

"Yea…" Will said. He had a small scowl on his face and looked kind of agitated as he stared at me.

"Alright, I'm off to talk to Chiron! I'll see you later tonight, Nico." With that, Rachel turned and sashayed out of the room.

There was an awkward pause after she left. I stared down at the ground, feeling guilty. No matter how disappointed Will looked, I couldn't tell him what was wrong. While I played nervously with the skull ring on my finger, he toyed with his stethoscope.

"So, um," he said finally, breaking the silence. "It's dinner time... wanna head there together?"

"Oh. Okay. Yea," I mumbled in reply.

Everyone else was already at the Hades table when we arrived. Our friends greeted us with grins and scooted aside to make room for us to sit side-by-side. It was a tight fit, causing our thighs to touch. Shyness piled on top of my guilt.

While everyone else at the table chatted animatedly, I ate in silence. Last summer, Will and I had become very good friends. I had opened up to him about my life in Italy, my mother's dead, Bianca's death, and more. While there were some very personal things I kept to myself (like my romantic _preferences_ ), I hadn't really hid anything from him. It was kind of weird to be doing so now, especially since he knew there was something up.

Will, the guy who'd shoved carrots into his lips and impersonated a walrus the day before, was quiet as he ate. I hated it. He looked sad, which wasn't a look that ever belonged on his sunny face.

It was as the others started to finish and leave the table that he whispered to me softly, "I don't understand why you can tell her but not me." I could hear the hurt in his voice.

I nearly choked on my mac 'n' cheese. Coughing, I whispered back, "Um. Look, Will, it's not a big deal. Don't worry about it."

The look he fixed me with resembled that of a kicked puppy. "Do you not trust me?"

A little part of me died on the inside. He sounded very sad. My voice wobbled when I spoke. "N-no, I do. It's... it's a personal issue."

Will leaned a little closer, his sad eyes inquiring. "Personal?" He whispered.

"Dammit, Will..." I murmured, biting my lower lip. His beautiful, sky blue irises were tempting me to inch towards the truth. "It's... kind of... _romantic_ stuff."

The sadness flushed off of Will's face, replaced by a blush and wide eyes. "Oh. Romantic stuff."

"Yea. Romantic stuff." I echoed dismissively. _To put it one way._ Anxious, I focused on shoving the leftover food on my plate around with my fork.

When I glanced back up at Will, there was a small frown on his face. "What... kind of romantic stuff?" _Oh, gods dammit,_ I thought with irritation when I heard the melancholy in his tone. Will was taking my secretiveness personally.

But, no matter what, I couldn't tell him! The situation was beyond my control! It didn't matter how much it hurt him (and therefore hurt me), I couldn't explain it to him.

The sadness was sneaking back onto his face as I hesitated. I was frustrated.

With exasperation, I exploded, "Gods Will, maybe I'm not telling you because it has to do with you!" I slammed my fork into the table for emphasize, burying the tines in the wood.

The outburst caught the attention of everyone nearby to us. Blushing under all the attention, I pushed my food to the side, dropped my head onto the table, and groaned.

Will started to giggle. I risked a quick, annoyed glance at him. He didn't look sorrowful any more.

"Romantic stuff… that has something to do with me?" He asked, his eyes glittering playfully.

My heart started to race. _Oops,_ I thought as I realized what I had just implied. I went on the defensive and snapped at him, "Shut up, Will. It's not like - ugh! You're an idiot. Stop looking at me like that."

Only, he didn't stop looking at me with a dopey smile on his face; a dopey smile which caused skeletal butterflies to awaken in my stomach.

After dinner, when Will took my hand as he was walking me back to my cabin, I didn't pull away.

Rachel was unpacking her stuff when I got back to the cabin. In no time, she was settled into a bunk in the far corner of the cabin. I decided to keep my negative opinions on her bed spread (it was printed with some childish looking cartoon panda), her pillows (one of which was shaped like a unicorn), and her paint splattered easel to myself, since her moving in was a favor to me.

I could deal with clashing decor in exchange for the protection of having her there.

The next few days proceeded without anything out of the ordinary, with the exception of how I didn't get a moment of privacy. During the day, I surrounded myself with people. At night, Rachel was there, painting on her easel in the corner of the cabin. I even left the bathroom door slightly ajar when I showered, just in case Apollo felt like attacking when I was most vulnerable.

I dragged myself into the infirmary every day and did my best not to blush too much when Will was working on the wrappings on my arm. Despite all that happened on Saturday, Will was back to his normal self... well, for the most part. There were small changes: like how his fingers lingered longer than necessary on my skin when he took my vitals, sparking electricity within me.

Jason and Percy were thrilled when I showed up at their classes and offered to help. In these classes, I found myself surrounded by curious, younger campers. It was weird to talk with all of them staring at me. The kids seemed nervous around me at first, but I noticed that, by Tuesday, they had warmed up to me.

On Tuesday morning, I was helping Percy with his sword fighting class. While Percy helped one point correct his stance, several of the other kids swarmed around me. Without any warning, they started peppering me with random questions.

"Is it true you've been to Tartarus?"

"Can you really raise a skeleton army?"

"My brother says you can go visit the underworld whenever you want!"

"Can I touch your sword?"

"What's it feel like when you shadow-travel?"

"Do you still play Mythomagic?"

My head was spinning. "Uhhhh." Was the only response I could manage during the onslaught of questions. Some of the questions were downright inappropriate, after all. When the questions halted, the five or six kids around me waited patiently for answers while I stared at them in shock.

I gulped. _They're just kids,_ I reminded myself, before breathing deeply. I could give them answers. "Yes, yes, not any more, absolutely not, it's kind of indescribable, and no."

Before the kids could come up with more questions, Percy showed up at my side and shooed them back to training.

"They're an inquisitive group." He chuckled.

"Yea, I can tell." I replied.

After the class, it was time to go get my bandages changed. Kayla didn't bother getting up when I entered the infirmary. Instead, she pressed two fingers to her lips and whistled. Will darted around the corner almost instantly.

I couldn't help but notice how she was grinning as Will dragged me to our usual room.

Today, after Will finished pulling off the old bandages, he hesitated. As I watched curiously, he pulled out a cloth and dabbed at the gunk on my arms.

"Looks like it's all done." He used the cloth to wipe off the rest of the smelly gunk off my arms. All the pot marks and scars I'd collected over the winter and spring were gone. Will tossed the cloth into the nearest trash bin.

 _Huh._ Since operation erase-my-scars was finished, that meant I didn't have to find time every day to visit the infirmary. That should have made me happy... but it didn't. I felt kind of sad. Will seemed bummed too.

It was as he was taking off his gloves that he commented offhandedly. "I'm gonna miss you visiting every day. I always look forward to seeing you..." He trailed off shyly, his ears red.

I started twirling my skeleton ring around on my finger as my heart sped up. _Me too_ is what I wanted to say, but I couldn't find the courage to say it.

Will chucked his gloves into the trash can and then smiled at me. "Maybe we can go get McDonalds sometime?" He winked at me. I had to fight the urge to jump off the gurney, grab his face, and kiss him. I didn't know how he knew that I had a moderate obsession with McDonalds – or maybe it was just coincidental – but I didn't care.

Also... was he asking me out on a date? Now I was blushing more than him. "Oh. Um." My voice was squeaky, so I coughed and cleared my throat, "Yea. S-sure. That'd be, uh, nice."

His wide smile was blinding.

"Will," Kayla interrupted as she poked her head through the curtain, making both of us jump, "I've got a camper who got stabbed in the arm."

"Oh! Okay. I'm coming." Will promised, but he didn't move when Kayla disappeared through the curtains. Before I could ask in a sassy fashion if he was going to _actually go help_ _or what_ , he leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek.

I froze, heat spreading through my face.

"See you at dinner!" Will chuckled before running out of the room.

After my legs stopped feeling like jelly, I showed myself out. I wasn't much of a gossiper, but I kind of wanted to share what had happened with someone. Will had _kissed_ me on cheek, voluntarily! Just the memory of it made me want to giggle like a little girl. My feelings were still relatively conflicted, especially considering that Apollo could still be pursuing me, but... I couldn't resist being happy about it.

If Reyna hadn't been on the other side of the continent, I would have talked to her about it. She'd become like a sister to me over the years. Heck, she even went so far as to bring me neat presents every time she came to visit (although, last time she brought me a toga, which I had no plans to ever wear). Reyna would probably have had great advice for me. _Oh well,_ I message wasn't private enough to discuss this issues.

Since Reyna wasn't an option, my mind wandered to Rachel. She definitely wasn't Reyna – she was messier, louder, borderline childish – but there was something about her that reminded me of Reyna. Maybe it was how trustworthy she was? How comfortable I felt around her? Just like Reyna, Rachel didn't seem off put by the fact that I was a child of Hades. It was kind of like both of them saw right through my heritage and simply saw a normal guy.

They were both weird like that.

I decided to go talk to Rachel. I wasn't sure if she was at the Hades cabin, but checking was easy. Prying the door to my cabin open, I peered into the cabin and called out, "Rachel? You home?"

What I didn't expect to find was Percy Jackson, looking up from where he had been digging through Rachel's stuff. "Oh!" He began, "Hi Nico. Sorry, I was looking for something for Rachel. She wanted me to get some book for her. She and Annabeth are studying ancient architecture or something weird like that."

"It's alright." I replied with a shrug as I entered the cabin and closed the door behind me. Having unexpected visitors, I supposed, was one of the downfalls of sharing a cabin. "It's not like this is just my cabin anymore." Percy didn't look like he was having any success digging through Rachel's stuff, so I decided to help. Anyways, I could follow him back to Annabeth and Rachel afterward – maybe I'd be able to drag the latter girl away so I could tell her about what happened between me and Will?

As I crouched down next to Percy and the bookshelf that Rachel had stacked her books and supplies, he shot me a thankful grin. "She said it's a book about Victorian architecture... but I kind of forgot what it was titled." It was good to know that Percy was still as clueless as ever.

I rolled my eyes and started to dig through the piles of books.

After about a minute of searching, Percy asked me abruptly, "So why is Rachel staying here?"

Luckily, Rachel and I had already discussed our story beforehand. "She's been helping me keep my nightmares away." I lied with a shrug. In a way, our forged story was kind of true.

"Well, I'm always up for a sleepover, if you need extra help." The nudge and wink that Percy gave me was kind of peculiar, but I didn't think too much of it. Percy was a silly, playful person.

When I'd first came out of the closet and told Percy that I used tohave a crush on him, Percy had been respectful yet very reserved. Over the course of that following year, he had gradually gotten friendlier but was always cautious to not be _too_ friendly. But, the summer after spending a year away at New Rome College, Percy had went back to treating me like one of the boys.

"Right." I snorted in reply.

Why did Rachel have so many books? Most of them were obnoxiously thick, with tiny serif print. Personally, I enjoyed reading – there was nothing better than a good mystery novel - but none of Rachel's books looked even remotely interesting.

"Seriously though." Percy insisted, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We could have pillow fights, decorate this place with Christmas lights, who knows, it might be nice." As he spoke, Percy started to lean closer to me, seriously invading my personal space. I might not have had a crush on Percy any more, but that didn't make me any less uncomfortable having him so close.

Wait, did Percy just speak poetically? Fights, lights, nice... that rhymed.

Percy turned to face me. His hand pushed on my shoulder, knocking me back onto my rear. "I can think of a lot of fun things we can do," murmured Percy. My nerves were set on fire when he started to crawl on top of me, pushing me down against the floor as he did so. When I was a kid, I had dreamed about something like this happening. I had spent years of my life hung up over Percy.

Percy's gaze was hungry. I found myself enchanted by his beautiful moss green eyes.

Wait, moss green? That wasn't right. Percy had much lighter green eyes, like the color of the ocean on a calm day. Trust me, I was obsessed with those eyes for a long time.

 _Oh gods,_ I gasped as Percy leaned down and kissed me.


	6. Burns

_Chapter 6:_ **Burns**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

His lips tasted a bit like salt water. Admittedly, there was a good second or two where I considered sinking into the kiss. Nostalgic yearning burned within my veins.

 _What about Will?_ I asked myself as Percy gently sucked on my lower lip. Thinking about Will helped me wake up.

This wasn't Percy.

No, this was undeniably Apollo. Percy was straight; I had accepted that and moved on a long time ago. Apollo was trying a new angle today by appearing as my old crush.

A small trickle of fear worked its way into my brain and I twisted my head, breaking the kiss. "No!" I gasped. Panting heavily, I tried to shove the fake Percy off me, but he caught my arms and pinned them against over my head with one hand. Just like before, I could feel electricity entering my system wherever Percy – well, Apollo really - touched me.

"Come on, Nico. I know you want this." Percy whispered into my ear. "You had a crush on Percy Jackson for the longest time. Don't you want his lips against yours?"

"Umm..." I gurgled meekly. The electricity entering my veins was confusing. My heart was hammering so hard that it was painful. Old feelings were waking up, ones that I'd held onto for years for Percy.

He was watching me with those eyes, the ones that were the wrong color. His grin was wrong too; it was too devious, too slanted to be Percy's grin. I tried to focus on these things while I wrestled with my own hormones and feelings.

He leaned down and started kissing me again.

I caught in an awful mental struggle, probably made worse by whatever influence Apollo was exerting over me.

 _I don't want to kiss him._

 _But it's Percy, the boy I had a crush on forever._

 _I like Will now. Also, this isn't Percy._

 _But you could pretend it is._

"Just say, _I'll be yours forever_ , and I can be Percy for you, whenever you want," whispered Apollo, breaking the kiss for a moment.

I took advantage of that break in the kiss to turn my head to the side and gasp for air. I tried to focus on Will in my mind; his gentle flirting, the lazy way he smiled, his messy blonde hair. It helped. That is, until Apollo started trailing kisses down my neck and along my collarbone, occasionally nibbling and sucking.

The feeling was entirely new and admittedly pretty amazing. For a moment, I forgot to breath as I relinquished in the sensation. _Hot damn_ , I couldn't help but think. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to let Apollo continue a little bit.

 _No, bad Nico_ , I chastised myself, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to squeeze those idiotic thoughts out of my brain. "Stop, Apollo," I managed to snap.

He did, although he groaned heavily. "Come on Nico," he whispered sadly, "you're killing me." I was killing him? Was he joking? He was the one who was making my life a miserable, emotional hell!

Then the door to the cabin opened. A shocked Rachel Dare stood at the entrance.

Seeing Rachel caused sense to rush back to me. I yelped her name, _"_ Rachel!"

She ended up not needing to do anything. Apollo muttered some ancient Greek cuss words under his breath before fixing me with a determined look. "I won't give up, I… I can't give up," his voice wobbled. Then, his whole body was encapsulated in light. His weight disappeared from on top of me as the light shimmered and vanished.

Like last time, the electricity faded from my veins and I went from feeling sensual and dazed to tired and panicked in about three seconds.

Rachel rushed forward, worry etched on her face. "Are you okay -" she began to ask.

"I've been better," I interrupted her, annoyance sharpening my voice. I knew shouldn't lash out at her, but it was hard to act sensibly. Everything was just so very wrong.

Frowning, she sat down beside me and rubbed the back of her neck. She seemed uncertain on what to say.

That was fine with me. I didn't know what to say either. I shoved myself back against the bookcase and pulled my knees to my chest.

A heavy silence settled over us. Rachel poked at a book that had escaped the bookcase, probably thanks to Apollo. Meanwhile, I focused on calming myself down. Panicking helped no one. The situation sucked, but I could manage it - I had to manage it.

As the storm within my heart died down, I started to think rationally about the situation. In particularly, I considered what Apollo said before he vanished - _you're killing me_. He sounded miserable, like his irrational love for me was truly threatening to break him. Which made no sense.

"Sometimes, I hate all this messed up god shit," I commented, breathing out a heavy sigh.

Rachel chuckled. "Yea, me too."

There was no way I was subjecting myself to dining pavilion. I felt guilty telling Rachel, as I knew she'd stay with me at the Hades cabin both in solidarity and for safety. However, she nodded as if she fully understood, got up, went over to her stuff, and started to dig through one of her bags. With a big grin, she produced a full box of American cereal called Frosted Flakes.

That drew a laugh out of me. Only Rachel would have full boxes of unhealthy breakfast foods tucked into her bag. Anyways, we moved ourselves to the beds and snacked on sugar coated flakes as the sun dipped below horizon.

Later in the night, Rachel pointed out something that I'd been thinking myself. "I think the other gods are involved in this. Maybe Aphrodite," she suggested, before grabbing a towel and pajamas and heading into the bathroom.

As much as I didn't want to involve more people in this awful situation, I was starting to think I needed to. There was something going on, something godly. Maybe there was something I could do other than clinging to Rachel like a baby duckling.

That night, in my dreams, I sat down with Clovis in his cabin and drank hot chocolate. It was quite relaxing. We barely talked at all, me and him, but I liked it that way. My friendship with Clovis was simple. He wasn't the kind of person who pried for personal information and I respected that, especially because I wasn't the kind of person who liked to give out personal information.

Rachel woke me up the next morning by throwing open the curtains and announcing, "Good morning! The cabin counselor meeting is this morning!" Yawning, I sat up and breathed deeply. I felt better today. Sleep was like a kind of nectar, healing and placating.

Yes, there was much to be concerned about. Apollo, his intentions, and what drove him. Will and my growing attraction to him. So on and so forth.

But, it was easy to forget all of these things as I watched Rachel fret over which paint splattered t-shirt was right for today.

Rolling out of bed, I started to gather my clothes for the day. I tucked a pair of fresh boxer briefs, dark blue jeans, and a black t-shirt under my arm and headed to the bathroom.

The initial, freezing water of my shower helped wake me up.

When I emerged, damp but clean, Rachel scoffed, "Don't you own any colorful clothes?"

"Colors are for the living," I retorted automatically, more than used to that comment. She rolled her eyes as I strutted across the cabin, heading for the door. "Well anyways, let's go." We had a boring meeting to attend.

Only, I didn't make it out the door. Rachel grabbed my collar and yanked me backwards, slamming the door shut with her foot. Stumbling backwards, I growled at her, "what the hell!" I yanked myself out of her grasp.

Seriously, what was she thinking, messing with a son of death like that? Do you want skeletons? Cause that's how you get skeletons!

But, my anger abruptly fizzled out once I noticed the look of horror on her face.

"Nico," she spoke slowly, cautiously, "you have hickies."

I must have heard her wrong. That's what I thought immediately. Hickies - there was no way she said _hickies_. "I… I have what?"

"On your neck. You've got a few hickies, um, in a straight line."

Oh shit. I turned and ran back into the still misty bathroom. Sure enough, after I wiped the fog off my Cabin's dinky little mirror, I found that a trail of dark red bruises leading down the side of my neck.

Apollo. Apollo put freaking hickies on me. He did it purposefully - I was sure of that.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I muttered as I pointlessly rubbed at the hickies. There was a little knock on the door frame as Rachel half stepped into the bathroom. I turned to her and asked frantically, "Do you have any ambrosia on you?"

"No," she said, frowning, "I'm sure there's some in the infirmary, but you know they wouldn't give it to you for… ah, that."

No, of course not. Ambrosia wasn't handed out willy nilly. Will had very strict rules for when they could use it, since it was so precious. In many causes, he personally approved the usage of it. _Hey Will, can I get some ambrosia so I can hide these hickies from you? Thanks._ Yea, that wouldn't go well.

I leaned forward and rested my forehead against the cold mirror. "If I set myself on fire, do you think the burns would hide these?" I (somewhat) sarcastically asked Rachel.

"You are not allowed to set yourself on fire," Rachel chastised, "I'm sure we can think of a way to hide them, sans fire."

Hide them… that was a good idea! Suddenly, I was very glad to be sharing my cabin with a girl. "Make up!" I gasped as I turned to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Do you have make up!?"

"Um, actually, no," she replied, much to my despair. I forgot, in my moment of excitement, that Rachel wasn't a traditional girly girl. "But I don't think make-up would really be able to hide those, Nico. They're pretty dark."

"Okay, well, you'll just have to tell the rest of the counselors that I've got a case of the dragon warts," I said with a sigh. Then, it occurred to me that that wouldn't work either: one - that'd leave me without Rachel, and two - Mr. Gotta-Heal-Everyone would surely come rushing to my aid. Groaning, I retracted my idea, "Nevermind, that won't work."

"I've got a better idea," Rachel hummed before ducking out of the bathroom.

While she did gods knew what in the main cabin, I poked at hickies and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. They looked like little rashes. If they weren't so neatly stacked in a line, I could have probably used that as an excuse. I could tell Will I was allergic to something.

 _And then he'd subject me to an allergy test_ , I thought sourly. No, it was never a good idea to try and lie about medical stuff to the teenage doctor.

"Here!" Announced Rachel as she skidded back into the bathroom, holding an atrocious piece of black fabric. She let it unroll; it was a scarf, speckled with green and yellow paint at the ends.

"Why is everything you own covered in paint?" I huffed at her, frowning at the offensive scarf.

"Hey, it's black, you love black."

Couldn't argue with that. "Yea, well, it doesn't matter. Rachel, it's like eighty degrees outside. No one is going to buy this."

Besides that, scarfs weren't my thing. I wouldn't be caught dead _accessorizing_. I was pretty sure no one in the camp would believe that I, Nico, son of darkness, would wear a scarf in the heat of the summer. Especially not a paint splattered scarf.

I started to wonder how much it'd tick off Chiron if I went and hid in the underworld for a week. He really hated me going there, especially because I always came back about twenty to thirty percent dead. The last time I'd gotten back from a few days in the underworld, Annabeth had put a hand right through my arm. Apparently, I'd been the only one who had considered it amusing.

It was better to die a little temporarily then let Will find out about the damned hickies. If he found out about them… then we'd be over. Well, there was no _we_ yet but there sure as hell would never be a _we_ if he knew about the hickies.

Then again, going to the underworld would mean my father might see the hickies. That might spur a conversation I definitely didn't want to have.

While I considered all of this, Rachel was doing her own thinking. She was traditional as far as people went. She stood there, tapping a foot, one finger resting at the edge of her lip. I was pretty sure I'd seen that exact thinking pose on a statue in a museum.

"I've got it!" She shouted so suddenly it gave me a small heart attack.

"Shit," I hissed, taking a step away from her. That was unnecessary, because she turned and darted out of the bathroom again. _Crazy girl_ , I thought.

That crazy girl returned thirty seconds later, wielding a paint brush and a few tubes of oil paints.

"Oh, you're joking," I said immediately.

"Oh, I'm definitely not," she replied, grinning dangerously, "I think it's a perfect idea."

"Perfect? Everyone's going to think I've gone insane!"

"No," she spoke matter-of-factly, "they're going to think you've lost a bet to me. Which is what we'll tell them."

That's how I ended up becoming a living canvas for Rachel.

She enjoyed the whole process. As she worked, she hemmed and hawed, as if the placement of each splotch of paint mattered. It took everything in me to not recoil and snarl every time her paintbrush snaked forward, leaving strokes of paint on me.

"You look like a Jackson Pollock!" decided Rachel after she'd finished.

"A who?"

"A Jackson Pollock. He was a famous painter."

"If you say so."

I took one last look at the bathroom mirror; I looked like a rainbow dalmatian. Oh well, there was nothing to do except accept my fate.

We were late to the cabin counselor meeting. When I opened the door to the meeting room, all eyes flickered to me. It took about two seconds for everyone to realize what I'd become and then snickering broke out. Blushing, I glared down at my shoes and subdued my urge to summon a skeleton army.

Rachel pushed past me and skipped into the room, over to where Chiron sat the front of the table. Chiron was currently seated in his magical wheelchair and looking at me with eyebrows raised. I ignored him and scanned the rest of the room.

Will was giggling maniacally, a hand over his mouth. I tried to glare at him but it didn't really work. I was too embarrassed to summon up the right kind of rage.

Will, still giggling, patted the empty seat beside him. Which also happened to be the only seat open at the large table. Did he… _save_ that seat for me? Great, now I had another reason to be embarrassed. I quickly paced around the table, doing my best to ignore Percy, Jason, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth as I passed them. Each of them had stupid, amused expressions on their faces.

"Not a word," I growled at Will as I sat down.

It was Chiron who asked, "Nico, is there a reason that you are covered in paint?"

My mouth went dry. For no reason, I found myself struggling to find the right words. There was no good excuse for this shortcoming; I'd had plenty of time to think of how I'd word my excuse on the way over here. _I lost a bet to Rachel_ , was all I was going to say. Keep it simple and keep it believable. I'd even thought about how I was going to initially refuse to specify what the bet was. However, if I really pressed, I could say it had to do with Mythomagic, as if I'd lost a game to her. I didn't actually play Mythomagic any more, but I knew it was a believable lie.

All my bases were covered with this solid background story. And yet, I couldn't force the words out. There were simply too many demigods staring at me with little, devious grins. I shriveled under the attention and mumbled incoherently.

Thankfully, Rachel saved me. "He lost a bet to me," she chirped cheerfully.

I was starting to think I didn't deserve Rachel. I let out a small sigh as everyone around the table laughed heartily. _Yes, be amused by my deception_ , I thought bitterly.

The table became alive as everyone started talking at once. Travis and Connor leaned across the table towards Rachel, telling her how much they approved of the punishment. Percy and Jason were laughing so hard that they were gasping for breath. Most of the other demigods were being a bit more subtle, whispering into their neighbors ears to talk. They knew better than to test my temper.

The Hades half of me bought me some serious street credit. That being said, there were a few demigods, like Percy and Jason, that had never learned to fear me.

While I was busy blaring at Percy and Jason, Will leaned towards me and whispered in my ear, "I like it." _Fuck fuck fuck fuck_ , I thought as heat shoot through my veins. Those three little words felt like a sip of ice cold water, and, gods dammit, I was thirsty. It took everything in me to maintain my composure.

I kicked his leg under the table and forced a scowl onto my face. Will definitely didn't need to know the effect his words had on me.

Once everyone had somewhat calmed down, Chiron began the meeting. This meeting's agenda was relatively typical: Capture the Flag teams, strawberry farming, and the chore itineraries. I was half-listening as the other cabin heads began to talk about how to divide up this week's stable duties.

Then something bumped into my right leg. I shifted, barely acknowledging it. Until it happened again. A foot - Will's foot, nudged mine. Grumbling, I shifted myself to get out of the way of his bumbling appendages. Only, it was like his leg was following me, because sure enough his shoe bumped into mine again.

That's when I realized he was doing it purposefully.

New waves of shyness crashed down on me. I wasn't sure what to do. Was I supposed to kick him back? I glanced sideways at Will, frowning. He was smiling, but appeared to be focused Piper, who was currently explaining that _unfortunately, the Aphrodite cabin is refusing to assist in the stables_.

Then his leg hooked around mine, pulling it closer to him. " _The hell_ ," I yelped, grabbing onto the table for leverage as I wrestled my leg back.

Oh shit. The attention of the table was back on me.

"Is something wrong, Nico?" Chiron asked kindly.

"Uh. No."

He waited another moment, eying me curiously, before nodding at Piper to continue.

Will was snickering under his breath.

Leaning closer to the idiot, I whispered (almost growled, really), "The fuck's wrong with you?"

His foot kicked my foot again. Then, he playfully whispered back, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I did my best to give him a peripheral death glare. It wasn't easy. Also, it didn't dissuade him at all from his new game. Even when I sunk into the chair and shoved my legs as far from Will as I could without rubbing my legs into the (particularly aggressive looking) Ares counselor to my left, he still managed to poke at my calf with the toe of his sneakers.

Stupid, tall bastard.

So, I did the reasonable thing and I changed tactics. Sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire, after all. I shifted myself back up in the chair, positioned myself for battle, and began my assault.

What I didn't expect was to lose. At first, the battle went promisingly and I could have sworn I had control of the situation. Only, when Chiron declared the meeting over, I suddenly found my leg utterly intertwined with Will's. His leg muscles squeezed, locking my leg in his.

While the other demigods stood up and began to stretch and talk, I was stuck in my chair, whispering cusses at Will. He simply watched me dreamily, his head propped up on one hand. I felt my paint-desecrated face heat up (again, for the billionth time).

The meeting room was emptying. Most of the other demigods were filling out; meanwhile, I was stuck trying to steadily glare at Will.

"Will," I whined, pushing on the table as I tried to pry my leg free.

"Yes?" he replied casually, as if nothing was wrong.

"Let go." Some of the other demigods were noticing my struggles. Much to my horror, that included Percy, Jason, and their girlfriends. Both Annabeth and Piper had these smirks on their face, smirks that didn't help with my growing embarrassment at all.

"I'll make you a deal," he drawled lazily, "I'll let go if you come help me in the infirmary today."

I knew I should say no. On any other day, it would be fine. I'd helped Will before in the infirmary. It was no big deal… normally. Today, I had a trail of hickies hidden under not-so-subtle paint. Today was really not the day to help Will in the infirmary. Doing so would be risky.

And yet, I blurted, "sure."

Will was starting to feel like an addiction. A hot, fun, and frustrating addiction.

He pulled back his leg and I stood up so quickly that I nearly toppled backwards over my chair. If Will hadn't reached forward and grabbed my shirt, I might have gone tumbling. "Thanks," I muttered, mortally embarrassed.

"You know, you're not supposed to literally fall for me," Will quipped as he stood up.

The skeleton butterflies were once again resurrected inside me, filling my gut and chest cavity with their frantic fluttering. Strangely enough, this was starting to be a common feeling for me, all thanks to Will.

"Shut up," was all I managed to snap back at him. He laughed at this as he stood up out of his chair and stretched.

I trailed behind Will silently as he led the way out of the conference room and down to the infirmary. There was a point - and maybe I was imagining it - where it I think he wanted to hold my hand. He looked back at me, stretched out his hand, but then seemed to think better of it. His cheeks were pinker than normal when he turned around and kept walking.

Anyways, we finally got to the infirmary. As we walked in, Will joked, "I still haven't gotten you that name plaque!" I rolled my eyes as he flipped his plaque from the blank side to the name side.

We continued past the front desk and towards the back. It looked like a maze, but I'd memorized the layout to the infirmary last year. I knew where we were heading before we reached it: the offices. It was a messy area. Well, let me clarify: it was clean as far as grim and dirt go. Healers didn't play games when it came it communicable infections. However, it was about as disorganized as it could be. Most desks were piled haphazardly with papers and office supplies, while the chairs and hooks along the walls bore umbrellas, jackets, spare shirts, and so much more. To top it all off, there were also a few musical instruments strewn about.

Will's desk was not any better. The first thing I noticed was several loose pages of poems and a few printouts of pop song lyrics. Most of his medical paperwork was peeking out from behind that stuff.

"Here you go," Will said as he grabbed a scrub shirt out of his desk drawer and threw it to me.

"I'm not wearing the pink one," I told him matter-of-factly as I threw the disgusting scrub shirt back at him.

Smirking, Will tossed me another scrub shirt, this one an acceptable gray color. In fact, I'd probably worn this shirt before. Last year, I always just raided Will's supplies of scrubs. We'd arrive together in the morning, he'd pick an overly bright scrub shirt and I'd pick one of the muted colors, and then I'd change in the bathroom while he changed in the office.

Which, yes, I was aware how silly that was. Men could take their shirts off around each other without it being improper. It's just that, well, I don't know. It made me nervous. So I insisted on going somewhere else to change last year. Every time. Every day.

This year… I found myself considering it as I stared at the gray scrub shirt.

"Well?" Will said, nodding towards the bathroom. It might have been a year, but he remembered my routine. In this way, he still respected by boundaries and what I was comfortable with. It was kind of sweet.

So I stripped off my shirt in front of him.

The funny thing about physical actions is you can't really take them back after you've done them. And, as soon as I yanked my shirt off, I instantly regretted it. The cold of the room hit my chest and I shivered. What the hell was wrong with me?

It didn't help when Will whistled lowly, his eyes on me. _Oh Styx_ , I thought nervously. I felt much too self-conscience and quickly wrangled the scrub shirt over my head. I was pretty sure my face was bright red.

Will started to laugh. It was a crazy kind of laugh, uneven and hearty. Once the scrub shirt was all the way yanked down, I glared at him hard. I wasn't trying to amuse him with that. I was just… oh, I didn't know what I wanted to do with that. What the hell had been my goal? Impress Will with my muscular, scrawny figure?

"I'm so sorry," he coughed out between his laughs, "I just… shit Nico, I wasn't expecting that!" He was bracing himself against his desk, barely keeping himself upright as the laughs racked his frame.

I crossed my arms and glared off to the side, fighting back my own growing amusement. His stupid laughter was contagious. I had to focus on breathing, recalling what Clovis had taught me during some of our late night sessions.

It was while I was focusing on keeping my cool that a bunch of Will's siblings, mostly younger ones, came into the offices. They were all dressed in their own scrubs - all bright colors, like Will's. They glances curiously at me and him before migrating over to their own desks and beginning to dig through papers.

Will finally bit back his laughter and greeted some of his siblings, before turning his attention back to me. "Okay," he said, smiling, "now let's get you cleaned up."

"Uh, excuse me!?" I barked back.

"You can't help in the infirmary with paint on you, silly," explained Will as he headed towards the row of medical style sinks at the beginning of the office room. There were soaps, towels, and other disinfectants on the shelves above the sinks.

Oh shit, I thought, taking a few steps backwards. "I lost a bet," I told him, trying to sound commanding, "I need to respect Rachel."

"Oh, come on," laughed Will as he grabbed and towel and began to wet it, "everyone's already seen you looking like a Picasso. I don't think Rachel will mind." He squirted some soap onto the towel.

A thought ran through my mind: did he plan on cleaning me off himself? A couple of images flashed through my mind, images that absolutely did not help with my embarrassment.

"Will, no." It was hard to keep my voice stable. This conversation was dangerous. "If the paint means I can't work in the infirmary, then so be it."

"Seriously?" Asked Will in disbelief as he rung out water from the towel. Turning around, he frowned curiously at me. "Come on Nico, you can't really be okay with being covered with paint. _Colorful_ paint, at that."

I wish Will didn't know me so well. He was absolutely right, I very much disliked being covered in paint. However, it was better than him knowing that -

"You bet he's okay with it!" shouted one of Will's younger siblings, "That paint is covering some nasty hickies!" The kid sounded absolutely giddy to be sharing this information. Immediately, my attention swung to the kid, my eyes going wide. How the frick did some random Apollo camper _know_? I barely recognized the kid. He was just some random twelve year old demigod. There was absolutely no reason…

Oh. His eyes. The twelve year old winked at me with his ridiculously pink eyes.

Will was laughing. And, then he wasn't. I dragged my attention away from the kid - _Apollo_ \- and back over to Will. He was looking at me, confused. Too late, I realized I didn't mask my own reaction.

Will, with the wet towel clasped in one hand, marched over to me and grabbed my arm with his other hand. To my horror, he tugged me out of the office and into the hallway outside, where there weren't a bunch of his siblings to listen in.

He seemed to struggle with his words, "Is… was Heith, what he said, like… Nico, is that true?" I hated how he was looking at me, like panic, sadness, and anger were all fighting for control of his face. Also, I had to squash the urge to point out that, _that wasn't Heith_. I didn't know who exactly Heith was, but that definitely hadn't been him.

"Uh, no," I lied quickly, trying to sound annoyed by the accusation, "he was just some asshole kid."

Will thrust the towel out to me, his eyes burning. "Clean off the paint, then," he ordered darkly.

The phrase, caught between a rock and a hard place, seemed pretty applicable to the moment. I tried to stick with my lie, muttering, "I have a freaking bet with Rachel, Will." I couldn't help but wring my hands together. My voice was shaking and I couldn't make myself make eye contact with Will. "I, uh, already told you that." Hades was definitely not the god of lying nor did not inherit any such skill from him. My lies sucked.

"Bullshit," he grunted, still holding the towel out towards me. Only, now his arm was trembling, sending droplets of water onto the spotless infirmary tile.

Whoa. It wasn't often that Will busted out cuss words. If the current situation didn't suck so much, I might have found it kind of hot. Instead, what with everything considered, I wasn't sure what to say or do. I just stood there, trying to think of something, anything, that could get out of this situation.

Meanwhile, Will's eyes started to shimmer. I realized that he was crying. A new pain awoke inside me, like someone was taking my heart and stabbing it with celestial bronze dagger.

"Who gave you hickies?" Will hoarsely growled.

There was no more denying the hickies. He knew. The gig was up. Once again, Apollo had swept in and nudged my relationship with Will closer to the realm of never-going-to-happen. After all, there was no way I could answer that question of his. I couldn't tell him, _oh, these? They're from your dad. He's trying to get me to sign up for his brothel of eternity._

All that I could weakly say was, "It doesn't matter." Another lie, really. It did matter. It was the matter. It was the reason I couldn't tell him.

"It… it doesn't matter," echoed Will incredulously, "It doesn't matter. Seriously… I… _fuck_. I guess I… misunderstood." His voice cracked about half way through the word _misunderstood_. My heart also cracked too, painfully. I didn't want to hurt him like this. This wasn't my fault but it felt like it was.

I couldn't help myself. I blurted out, "Look, I didn't want them!" I just wanted him to know that he hadn't _misunderstood_ , that I was feeling the same way.

That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

My exclamation got Will to freeze. "What do you mean," he said, his expression now one of dismay, "you didn't _want_ them?" He practically whimpered the word _want_ , anxiety bleeding into his tone.

Regret wasn't a strong enough term for what I felt. I shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have said the word _want_. I gulped heavily and swifted my weight from foot to foot. Emotions were flooding me, wrecking my self control.

" _Nico_ ," he demanded when I didn't answer right away. He now sounded more anxious and worried than angry. That was good, sort of, in a glass-half-full kind of way.

I waved my hands in front of me and tried to reassure him, "Fuck, look, I said too much already, don't worry about it." I don't know how convincing that sounded to him, especially considering my voice was still shaking, "I'm - I'm handling it."

Will's expression twisted into one of horror. Too late, I realized that _handling it_ was also not the right thing to say. _Great job, Nico_ , I thought acidly. _Handling it_ implied that the hickies were no accident, but rather… something worse.

Will dropped the towel, which landed beside him with a splat. He took two steps forward, cutting the space between us in half. "Nico, what's going on?" He reached forward and grabbed my arms gently. His next words were fast, desperate, and worried. "Tell me. I can be here for you. I can help you."

The rest of the world melted away. There was only Will, his sky blue eyes searching my face, his hands holding my arms. I could of stayed in that moment forever.

He cared about me.

Generally, truly cared about me. It was powerfully comforting.

I couldn't help myself. I selfishly sought more comfort; I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his shoulder. He returned the hug, pulling me tightly against him.

Holy Hades, I really liked hugging Will. To have his warmth pressed up against me, to feel his breath on my ear, his heart beating next to mine… whoa. It was nice in all those silly romantic ways that the Aphrodite girls would gush about every time you made a mistake of talking to them for more than thirty seconds.

I didn't want to let him go. But, I couldn't let him in.

Taking a shaky breath, I said what I had to say, "It's better if you don't know."

When I pulled back a little from the hug, I found Will staring at me, confused and hurt. Then, he opened his mouth, surely about to argue with me some more. Which, to be honest, wasn't surprising at all. Will was stubborn. Will was passionate. I knew this wouldn't be the end of the argument.

Tears were beginning to blur my vision. Right now, there was no way I could trust myself to say anything else, not with all the conflicting feelings that were stabbing themselves into my heart. All I wanted to do was stay here with him, but if I did, I would say things I shouldn't say. I would do things I shouldn't do.

My heart ached as I acted sensibly; I placed a hand on Will's chest and gently pushed him off me.

"Nico, please, don't shut me out," Will implored, his beautiful eyes boring into me.

I could drown in those blue eyes.

But not today. And, maybe never, if Apollo got his way.

"I'm sorry," I whispered painfully before twisting around and sprinting away, down the hallway.

I could hear Will chasing me, calling for me to wait, as I slipped into an empty exam room. It occurred to me, right as I faded away into the shadows, that I was still wearing his gray scrub shirt.

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

 **A/N:** This was the first almost entirely new chapter! Years ago, when I first posted Cobalt Blue, there was a chapter 6. It had many similarities to this one, but it was darker and the characters behaved very differently. Anyways, from here on, the story will be entirely new! You can expect two more exciting and cute chapters. :)


	7. Pyre Proposal

_Chapter 7:_ **Pyre Proposal**

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

The sun was bright and cheery, which was exceedingly annoying.

The camp was abuzz with activity. Campers were running around, talking, laughing, and practicing their skills. It was lovely weather to be out and about.

It seemed so inappropriate. I stood under the shadow of a pine tree, where I'd re-materialized, and watched the camp.

The lovely weather was all wrong. The camp should be enveloped in storm clouds, drenched in angry rain, just like my mind. However, my mental state was not connected to the camp's weather.

I began to storm away from it all. Into the forest, over the hills. I focused on calming myself as I strode towards my goal.

By the time I reached the shrines, I felt more reasonable. I could handle this, I could deal with this. If I could reach out to the right god, maybe I'd be one of those demigods who got a happy ending. It was possible; hell, look at Percy Jackson. That idiot managed to land himself a fairy tale ending complete with a pretty girl. Surely I, Nico di Angelo, could land myself a happy ending with a cute blonde too.

My cheeks were a bit warm as I walked, slowly, into the shrine grounds. My friends had really done a good job on these shrines. Each shrine had its own flavor, but all of them looked regal in its own way. Without reading the name plates, I could guess vaguely which god each shrine might be for.

I stopped when I reached the center of the shrines. Now, it was time for the most important thing: to figure out who to pray to. It was kind of like I was standing in the middle of a phone book and there was a bunch of numbers all around me. Who to call? Who would assist a son of Hades? Or, was this a silly idea and completely in vain?

"You are dealing with quite the dilemma," a powerful voice spoke from behind me. It caught me off guard and I nearly fell as I spun wildly around.

Cupid.

I'd met him before, a long, long time ago. Since he was a god, he really hadn't changed much. In some ways, he resembled a normal (yet unfairly handsome) guy. For example, his outfit was utterly mundane: he wore a white t-shirt and jeans. However, this normal image was fouled by glowing red eyes and snowy white wings.

A shiver ran up my spine. The last time I'd met Cupid, he'd made me admit my feelings for Percy to Jason. I hadn't appreciated that at all at the time. Yes, now, I was more relaxed about it, but still. That had sucked majorly.

"Cupid," I replied, doing my best to keep my expression neutral.

"Nico di Angelo," replied Cupid placidly.

He stood there, watching me silently. It was downright creepy. "Can I… help you?" I squeaked out, trying in vain to not sound unnerved by the god's presence.

"No, but perhaps I can help you," Cupid said.

 _Relax_ , I told myself. Cupid was probably one of the best gods who could assist in me this matter. If anyone knew uncontrolled love and lust, it would be him. He was the god of all things passion, after all. "How?" I asked him.

"I can give you some good advice."

"Advice?" I couldn't help it; bitterness snuck into my tone. "I think I need more than just advice." I needed some godly power, or some godly intervention… not _advice_.

Cupid hardly reacted. He stayed calm, his red eyes staying trained on me. On a scale of one to ten, one being normal and ten being freaky, I'd have to rank his eyes at a ten. "Yes, Nico di Angelo, advice."

Rubbing my arms, I cleared my throat and tried to reply kindly, "Uh, sure, okay." I knew better than to argue with a god or, even worse, reject assistance.

Besides, maybe his advice would be decent.

Cupid nodded, then said, "Are you aware this is all my mother's doing?"

"Aphrodite?" I said, blinking, "Seriously? What does she have against me?"

"Not you," replied Cupid, "Apollo. Unfortunately for you, her plan involves actively trying to destroy his relationship with his favorite son."

Favorite son. "Will," I gasped.

"Yes, the blonde one. He's had a crush on you for a very, very long time. Aphrodite decided it was the perfect opportunity for revenge."

Cupid's words were almost too much. I ended up sitting down, landing hard on the grass. Will Solace had had a crush on me for a very, very long time? Grabbing my head, I let the words process.

It was official. I was an idiot. I was blind. Okay, I knew he liked me now - that was becoming more and more evident. But, he had liked me for a long time? Like, last summer too? Maybe, the summer before? My cheeks were uncomfortably warm.

Meanwhile, Cupid did not move. He simply stood and waited.

Once my heart stopped racing so much, I asked about the other thing that Cupid said, "Wait, what does Aphrodite want revenge for?"

Cupid's eyes narrowed sadly. "For the children she lost in the war."

"Oh." Yea, a lot of gods and demigods had been upset for Apollo's participation. Will and his siblings had been worried about what kind of punishment their father was receiving. Their guesses had always been dark and dramatic, like being chained to a rock and having his innards pecked out by eagles. Turns out the true punishment (or at least the one from Aphrodite) was a lot less simple.

As terrible as it was, I found myself wishing that she'd just chained Apollo to a rock and let the eagles go to town. It'd be a heck of a lot easier for me.

"So, my advice, young demigod," Cupid said, "listen carefully."

"Uh, okay."

"You must convince Aphrodite that your love with Will is true and deserved."

"Uhh, o-okay." What the hell did that even mean? My cheeks felt hot. "H-how do I do that?"

"Well, there is one simple way: Aphrodite believes that true romance includes _sacrifice_."

There was something truly grim in the way he said _sacrifice_. There was a strong implication that he wasn't talking about sacrificing little habits or hobbies. A chill ran down my spine. For some reason, I was rather certain he meant _sacrifice_ as in the someone-dies sort of sacrifice.

I wanted for Cupid to say something more… but he didn't. He just stood there, watching me with an absolutely expressionless face.

Sacrifice. As Will would say, _holy guacamole_. Aphrodite had a rather twisted, Shakespearen view on what good romance had in it. I didn't want to end up like Romeo and Juliet; their story was not a true romance, it was an utter tragedy. It wasn't beautiful, it was tragic. There was no happy ending.

As dorky as it was, I couldn't help but want a happy ending. I wasn't Romeo and never wanted to be.

"Sacrifice," I finally said, "seriously? Like, me or Will sacrificing ourselves?"

Cupid shrugged, which made me want to vomit. _Yea, no, hard pass on the sacrificing idea_ , I thought to myself. "Once again, Nico di Angelo," he said, his strong voice reverberating around the clearing, "have faith. Have faith, and you will have your _happy ending_." He said the last bit in a knowing way, as if he could read my mind.

Suddenly, the oddest thing happened: a flash of lightning crackled across the clear blue sky. Cupid glanced up at it and frowned.

"Things will move quickly from this point on, Nico di Angelo. Don't forget your faith," Cupid said gravely.

Then, there was a strong gust of wind, so strong that it shoved me over and onto my side. I shielded my eyes from the wind and spat out dust that snuck into my mouth. Almost a quick as it came, the wind died down.

Cupid was gone.

I was alone, sprawled amongst shrines, their flowers and decor now all awry from the mysterious wind.

I laid there for a while, listening to the gentle chirping of birds and the occasional laughter of wood nymphs. It was pretty relaxing. Which was good, because the thoughts in my head were anything but. Panic was threatening to taken over.

Sacrifice. That word echoed within me.

In a way, it was ironic. I was the son of death. How could I be afraid of it? It was my domain. But, still. The mere concept of sacrifice made my head feel dizzy. I hoped that there was something I was missing about Cupid's message, some subtle godly clue. I hoped that when he meant sacrifice, he truly mean something lighter. Maybe I'd have to sacrifice something simple, like wearing black or making sarcastic comments. I could do that… maybe.

That's when I decided to go talk to Rachel. If anyone could decipher the whimsical hints of the gods, it was her. I shoved myself to my feet and strode back towards the main part of the camp, with its bustling activity.

For the most part, I ignored the rest of the campers as I passed by the cabins and the training grounds. I was a man on a mission. Luckily, most campers would never go out of their way to greet the demigod of death, and I didn't run into the few who would on my way to the big house.

I avoided the infirmary entrance, instead going the long way around the house to a side door that led up to the attic. As soon as I opened the door, I could hear faint music playing. Several male voices sang about wanting _it that way_.

Rachel had very standard American tastes. I did my best to tune out the pop music, which only grew louder as I climbed the stairs.

I knocked on the attic door and heard, "Come on in!"

Inside, Rachel was standing in front of an oversized canvas, one so large that it was propped up against the wall instead of on an easel. In her hand was her favorite weapon: a paintbrush. "Heya Nico," she greeted with an easy smile, "what's up?"

I didn't answer. If I had, my reply would have just been sarcastic. Honestly, it was kind of surprising that Rachel was so blaise. She knew the shit I'd been dealing with, after all.

Walking further into the room, I looked at the painting that Rachel was working on.

It was creepy. It showed the grimy streets of a city, filled with sickly people, their eyes ringed with dark lines and their faces accented with faint greens. I pointed at the painting and raised my eyebrows, "Um, is that a vision?"

"Oh, no," Rachel quickly answered, shrugging, "more like a memory… ah, I think."

"Weird," I said as I continued to stare at the gruesome depiction. Finally, I tore my eyes off it and got to the point, "So hey, I talked with Cupid today." It sounded so casual. Only in Camp Half-Blood would a conversation with a god feel almost mundane.

"Oh really?" Rachel was now interested. She put her paintbrush down and turned to fully face me.

I leaned back against an old armchair and nodded. "Yeah, and he told me some things. He said that this is all because of Aphrodite. And that I need to, um, prove that my love for Will is, ah, true." I was strongly aware how awkward I sounded at the end of my explanation. Gods, all of this stuff was so ooey gooey. It was uncomfortable to have to verbalize it.

Tilting her head, Rachel asked, "How are you supposed to do that?"

"Sacrifice, apparently," I told her dryly, crossing my arms.

Her eyes bugged out and her mouth dropped open. "Oh," she muttered, blinking, "that's… something."

"Gods," I replied with a shrug, sounding more calm than I felt, "what else is new."

Rachel chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. She stared at me, obviously deep in thought. Even though her intense gaze was a bit unnerving, I forced myself to be patient and wait for her wisdom. This crazy girl, who was currently standing in front of a morbid painting of plague victims while American pop music blared from her stereo, was my best bet for figuring out what Cupid really meant.

"Maybe it's not worth it. Will, I mean."

Rachel's words caught me utterly by surprise. _Not worth it_. "Um, what?" I squeaked, anger bubbling up within me, "What the hell do you mean?"

"If someone's going to die because of it," Rachel snapped back, her face fierce, "maybe it's not worth it, Nico. If you or Will have to die, is it worth trying to pursue it?"

Her logical words were the most painful words I'd ever heard. The worst part was that she was right. Nothing was worth it, if it meant risking Will's life. Hell, I didn't even care as much about my own life. If I died, big whoop. I'd get to go live in my father's kingdom and spend my days parasailing on the river Styx and teaching Cybrus to fetch. But, Will… Will was different.

Will was a child of the sun. He deserved as much time in this kingdom as he could get.

"Do you… really think so…?" I whimpered, my voice cracking. I rubbed my arms. I was trembling.

Rachel sighed deeply and walked over to me. She stopped a foot away and reached forward, her hands resting on my shoulders. "I know this isn't easy, Nico," she said softly, "but really, maybe it's for the best."

" _Best?_ " I choked out, pissed at her wording.

"I'm serious," she continued, her eyes locked on mine, "Apollo is a good guy. I'm sure you'll be happy with him. He'll treat you so well, Nico, I'm sure -"

 _Oh no._

There was something very off with her words. The things she was saying, the way she was looking at me, it all send chills throughout me. _Oh no, oh no, oh no._ I grabbed Rachel's arms and tried to push them off my shoulders, interrupting her in the middle of her spiel about how great Apollo will be.

Her arms wouldn't move. It was like trying to push the trunks of full grown oak trees.

Rachel didn't work out. Rachel was not a demigod. Rachel was not strong. Not like this, at least.

I glared into her eyes, trying to remember exactly what shade of green Rachel's eyes were. Although, it didn't really matter. Based on how her expression morphed into one of painful annoyance, I knew exactly who she - well, he - was.

"Back off," I growled, gathering as much of my courage as possible.

"Oh, come on Nico," she (he) replied, taking another step closer. I leaned backwards over the armchair, trying to get away from the god in disguise, "we were meant to be."

One of Rachel's hands left my shoulder and wrapped around my back, dragging me closer. "I'm not into girls," I hissed as I dropped down and out of Rachel's grasp. Wildly, I rolled to the side and stumbled back to my feet.

By the time I got my feet, Rachel was gone. There was only a frustrated god. Apollo.

He looked… terrible. It was weird. Previously, every time I'd seen him, he'd been so well put together. Hair perfectly, shirt spotless, face gorgeously unblemished. Now, that godly hair was chaotic, looking unbrushed (did gods even brush their hair?). Now, his face was muddled with shades of red and his eyes had dark bags under them. Apollo looked like he hadn't slept in days (did gods even sleep?).

"Please Nico, I can be whatever you need," he whispered darkly, taking a few steps towards me, "I just… I need you…" His voice cracked like a teenager going through puberty.

Whatever Aphrodite had done to him was getting worse. Fear of a whole new sort filled me.

"Apollo, no, this isn't what either of us want," I told him, hoping that I could appeal to a part of Apollo not affected by Aphrodite.

It didn't work. He kept walking forwards me, his steps almost more like stumbles. The way he was moving and his crazy expression reminded me of a horror movie. It was downright freaky. This wasn't a man pursuing his love. This was a predator pursuing prey.

Years of hanging out with Percy Jackson had taught me a few tricks. "Oh my god, is that Zeus!?" I screamed and pointed over Apollo's shoulder.

Sure enough, the god twisted around, his eyes widening. Of course, there was no Zeus. The attic was devoid of life behind him.

While he was briefly distracted by my utterly childish shout, I turned on a dime and made a mad dash for the attic door. Luckily, I'd left the door open, so right down the steps I went.

I'm not exactly sure how many steps I made it down. Maybe twenty, maybe thirty. Then, a heavyweight barreled into me from behind.

I completely lost my balance. Gravity took control and I flopped forward. I hit the stairs hard, pain exploding in my side where I hit. But, that was only the beginning. The momentum carried me forward and I felt like a leaf in the wind. Me and the weight - Apollo - spun down the stairs, slamming into the walls and the steps. I was vaguely aware that I was screaming.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize when we'd reached the bottom of the stairs. My head was spinning so very terribly and everything hurt. I had to concentrate on breathing because, for some reason, it was very difficult. In fact, breathing hurt. Every breath spurred slicing pains in my side.

Apollo's face was suddenly right in front of me, his eyes wide and wild. Then, his lips were crushing into mine and I couldn't breath. I went to shove his face away, but his skin was so hot it burned my hands.

I was drowning underneath Apollo.

The world was fading out. The heat, the pressure, the shouts of, _what the fuck, stop, get off him_.

Apollo pulled back and I finally had the chance to gasp for air. Only to then suck my breath right back in utter fear as Apollo changed. From a raggedy, homeless-looking god, he morphed…

… into a fucking wolf. Like something straight out of a Halloween flick, I found myself trapped under a shaggy brown wolf monster. It's narrow eyes, glowing cobalt blue in color, twisted to glare at something approaching us.

The wolf bared sharp, shiny white teeth and snarled. Before I could register what exactly was going on, a pair of hooves appeared out of nowhere and punted the wolf right off me.

Chiron.

Chiron, my new favorite person ever. Chiron was standing next to me, bow with an arrow already cocked. "Apollo, leave," he commanded.

I turned to find the wolf only a few feet away and already crawling back towards me. It's jaws were open and it was breathing hard. I tried to scramble away, closer to the protection of Chiron. I did not want wolf Apollo biting my damned face off.

Chiron raced the bow threateningly and finally the message went through. Apollo, growling, took a few wolf steps backwards before light began to embrace him. Dizzy or not, I had the good sense to look away before he vanished.

"Oh gods, Nico!" another voice shouted and arms embraced me.

Will Solace. Of course. Somehow, he was always there whenever I was hurt. "Hi Will," I muttered in reply as I fought to maintain consciousness. He was a pink scrub shirt that looked oddly familiar, but my head was too fuzzy and I wasn't sure why I thought that.

"I need ambrosia, STAT!" screamed Will.

"Nico, what is going on?" That was Chiron. He'd crouched down next to me; his fierce expression was now completely replaced by one of concern.

The cat was out of the bag. Or, well, the wolf, in this case. I knew honesty was needed. Besides that, my brain was too muddled to lie. "Aphrodite cursed Apollo," I managed to weakly explain, "he wants me or whatever."

"He… what," whispered the kind boy holding me. _Oops_ , I thought, as dreariness began to drag me away from the waking world.

"No, don't worry," I whispered to Will slowly, each word laborious to say, "I like you, not him." Drowsily, I patted his cheek with a hand.

And then I passed out.

\- **x** \- **x** \- **x** -

 **A/N:** Parasailing the River Styx would probably be a blast.

By the way, if you read the original story, you can look  
forward to some peptobismal in the next chapter... ;)


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